5".  2.5".  63. 

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BX  9178  .S6  F5  1851  v. 2 
Spring,  Gardiner,  1785-1873 
First  things 


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claj^    (s>  •     y  ^^^to 


FIRST    THINGS 


§txm  nf  Xntum 


GREAT  FACTS  AND  MORAL  LESSONS 


FIRST   REVEALED    TO   MANKIND. 


BY 

GARDINER  WlNG,  D.D. 

PASTOR    OF   BRICK    PRESBYTERIAN    CHURCH    IN    THE    CITY    OF   NEW    YORK. 


IN   TWO  VOLUMES. 
VOL.    II. 


NEW  YORK: 
PUBLISHED  BY  M.  W.  DODD, 

BRICK  CHURCH  CHAPEL,  CITY  HALL  SQUARE, 
(opposite  the  city  hall.) 

1851. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1851, 

1!  Y    M.    W.    l)OU  D, 

,n  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  Southern  District  of  New  York. 


MTKKKOTYPKD    BY   THOMAS    B.    SMITH, 
S16    WILLIAM    STHKICT,    N.  Y. 


CONTENTS  OF  VOLUME  II. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

PA.OS. 

THE  FIRST  DEIST, & 

CHAPTER  XV. 

THE  FIRST  ACT  OF  DISCRIMINATING  GRACE, 33 

CHAPTER  XVI. 


THE  FIRST  QUARREL, 


THE  FIRST  DEATH, 


CHAPTER  XVII. 


54 


78 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

THE  FIRST  EXAMPLE  OF  EMINENT  PIETY, 103 

CHAPTER  XIX. 

THE  FIRST  DEFINITION  OF  HUMAN  SINFULNESS, 139 

CHAPTER  XX. 

THE  FIRST  ANNOUNCED  WITHDUAWMENT  OF  THE  SPIRIT,    .       .166 

CHAPTER  XXI. 

THE  FIRST  NATIONAL  CURSE, 188 


CHAPTER  XXII. 

THE  FIRST  YOUTHFUL  PATRIARCH  GOING  FROM  HOME,  .        .        .    228 

CHAPTER  XXIII. 

THE   FIRST    INSTANCE    OF    WRESTLING    WITH    THE    ANGEL    OF 

THE  COVENANT •  •    252 

CHAPTER  XXIV. 

THE  FIRST  REBUKE  OF  A  DYING   FATHER, 277 

CHAPTER  XXV. 

THE  FIRST  REBELLION  IN  THE  HEBREW  COMMONWEALTH,        .    30(.) 


CONCLUSION, 


381 


FIRST  THINGS. 


CHAPTER   XIV. 

to  fm\  Dnst. 


Lsr  tlie  history  of  our  first  parents,  the  first  birth 
must  have  been  an  event  of  deep  interest.  What 
mother,  from  the  days  of  Eve  to  the  present  hour, 
ever  realized  such  an  event  without  those  com- 
mingled emotions  of  solicitude,  tenderness,  respon- 
sibility, and  joy,  which  none  but  the  heart  of  a 
parent  knows  ?  Cain  and  Abel,  it  has  been  gen- 
erally believed,  were  twin  brothers.  Two  flowers 
there  were  that  thus  early  bloomed  on  this  barren 
earth,  though  the  flowers  of  Eden  were  thus 
blighted.  The  "  mother  of  all  living"  looked  upon 
her  first-born,  and  exclaimed  in  transports  of  glad- 
ness, "I  have  gotten  a  man  from  the  Lord!" 
There  was  nature  in  all  this ;  and  was  there  not 
faith  in  it  also  ?  God  had  said,  "  I  will  put  en- 
mity between  thee  and  the  woman,  and  between 
thy  seed  and  her  seed :  it  shall  bruise  thy  head, 


(J  THE  FIRST   DEIST. 

and  thou  shalt  bruise  his  heel."  This  promise  of 
the  Messiah  was  not  given  to  a  reprobate.  Our 
first  parents  were  to  be  the  founders  of  true  reli- 
gion in  the  very  world  upon  which  they  had 
brought  the  curse  of  their  apostasy  ;  and  this  sim- 
ple and  childlike  exclamation  of  Eve,  while  it 
evinces  her  gratitude  and  a  sweet  sense  of  her  de- 
pendence, shows  that  she  was  no  castaway.  Nor 
is  it  at  all  improbable,  that  these  few  words  con- 
tained the  germ  of  a  stronger  faith,  and  that  she 
had  the  secret  hope  that  her  first-born  son  was  the 
promised  "  seed  of  the  woman." 

It  is  an  interesting  fact,  that  God  was  not 
pleased  to  give  our  first  parents  posterity,  until 
he  had  revealed  this  gracious  promise ;  and  it  is  a 
delightful  truth,  in  its  relations  to  those  who  die 
in  infancy,  that  no  child  of  Adam  was  ever  born, 
except  under  the  mediatorial  reign  of  the  prom- 
ised Saviour.  Cain  and  Abel  began  their  exist- 
ence under  tho  announced  reign  of  this  Prince  of 
Peace;  yet,  as  they  commenced  it  under  a  bro- 
ken covenant,  they  inherited  the  character,  not  of 
their  unfallen,  nor  of  their  restored  parents,  but 
the  character  which  they  possessed  as  fallen  and 
depraved  creatures. 

We  know  little  of  the  early  history  of  these  two 
first-born  of  the  human  family ;  the  brief  hints 
furnished  by  the  sacred  historian,  show  that  they 
were  very  different  men.     It  is  obvious  from  the 


THE   FIRST   DEIST.  7 

whole  narrative  that  they  were  religiously  edu- 
cated, and  that  they  employed  their  religious 
training  to  very  different  ends.  Their  parents 
were  acquainted  with  God,  and  had  cultivated  the 
most  delightful  intimacy  with  him  before  they  fell. 
They  were  unhappily  too  well  acquainted  with  the 
snares  of  the  tempter ;  and  God  had  graciously 
made  them  acquainted  with  the  way  of  salvation 
by  his  Son,  and  with  the  only  way  of  worshipping 
him  acceptably  and  with  godly  fear.  These  great 
truths  they  could  not  but  have  instilled  into  the 
minds  of  their  children,  by  example,  instruction, 
and  prayer. 

Eeligious  instruction,  even  where  most  faithfully 
imparted,  exerts  a  widely  different  influence  upon 
different  minds.  This  difference  was  strongly 
marked  in  the  character  of  Cain  and  Abel.  Abel 
was  a  pious  young  man  ;  Cain  was  ungodly.  Abel 
was  a  believer  in  God's  truth  ;  Cain  was  an  unbe- 
liever. Abel  was  a  Christian ;  Cain  a  Deist. 
Abel  died  an  unnatural,  yet  a  happy  death ;  Cain 
lived  to  wander  a  vagabond  in  the  earth,  and  died 
none  can  tell  where,  with  this  only  epitaph  upon 
his  grave,  "That  wicked  one,  who  slew  his 
brother."  Nor  was  this  first-born  of  the  human 
family  the  last  one  of  the  race  whose  entrance  into 
the  world  was  greeted  with  exultation,  but  whose 
subsequent  character  and  conduct  overwhelmed 


8  THE  FIRST  DEIST. 

his  parents  with  the  bitterness,  the  very  anguish 
of  grief. 

We  have  said  that  Cain  was  a  Deist,  and  that 
Abel  was  a  Christian.  Truth  and  error,  Deism 
and  Christianity,  have  essentially  their  own  pecu- 
liar characteristics  in  all  ages  of  the  world.  The 
Christianity  of  Abel  was  essentially  the  Chris- 
tianity of  Paul ;  while  the  Deism  of  Cain  was  es- 
sentially the  Deism  of  Herbert,  Blount,  Shaftes- 
bury, Tindal,  Morgan,  Chubb,  and  Bolingbroke. 
Christianity  is  the  system  of  doctrines  and  precepts 
taught  in  the  Holy  Scriptures  ;  and  the  Christian 
is  one  who  believes  and  loves  these  doctrines,  and 
obeys  these  precepts.  Deism  is  the  system  which, 
while  it  acknowledges  the  existence  of  one  God, 
denies  a  supernatural  revelation.  It  is  the  belief 
in  natural  religion  only,  or  in  those  truths  which 
are  discovered  only. by  the  lights  of  reason  and 
nature.  The  Deist  is  one  who  professes  to  follow 
these  lights  as  his  only  guides.  A  cursory  view 
of  the  character  of  Cain  and  Abel  will  justify  the 
assertion,  that  while  the  former  presents  to  us  the 
first  example  of  Deism,  the  latter  furnishes  us  the 
first,  among  Adam's  descendants,  who  was  an  ex- 
emplification of  Christianity. 

We  rest  these  positions  on  a  brief  narrative 
which  we  extract  from  the  fourth  chapter  of  the 
book  of  Genesis.  "  Abel  was  a  keeper  of  sheep, 
but   Cain  was  a  tiller  of  the  ground.      And  in 


THE  FIRST  DEIST. 


process  of  time  it  came  to  pass,  that  Cain  brought 
of  the  ground  an  offering  unto  the  Lord.     And 
Abel  he  also  brought  of  the  firstlings  of  his  flock, 
and  of  the  fat  thereof.     And  the  Lord  had  respect 
unto  Abel  and  his  offering ;  but  uuto  Cain  and 
to  his  offering  he  had  not  respect.     And  Cain  was 
very  wroth,  and  his  countenance  fell.     And  the 
Lord  said  unto  Cain,  Why  art  thou  wroth  ?  and 
why  is  thy  countenance  fallen?     If  thou  doest 
well,  shalt  thou  not  be  accepted  ?  and  if  thou  doest 
not  well,  sin  lieth  at  the  door.     And  unto  thee 
shall  be  his  desire ;  and  thou  shalt  rule  over  him. 
And  Cain  talked  with  Abel  his  brother :  and  it 
came  to  pass  when  they  were  in  the  field,  that 
Cain  rose  up  against  his  brother  Abel  and  slew 
him.     And  the  Lord  said  unto  Cain,  Where  is 
Abel,  thy  brother  ?     And  he  said,  I  know  not ; 
am  I  my  brother's  keeper  ?     And  he  said,  What 
hast  thou  done  ?     The  voice  of  thy  brother's  blood 
crieth  unto  me  from  the  ground." 

There  is  no  such  test  of  character  as  the  revealed 
truth  and  will  of  God.  They  were  revealed  in 
order  to  influence  the  characters  of  men;  while 
facts  show  that  their  characters  are  developed  by 
nothing  so  certainly.  Men  are  religious  or  irre- 
ligious, Christian  or  infidel,  as  they  fall  in,  or  fall 
out  with  God's  truth  and  God's  commands. 

If  we  look  into  the  Bible,  we  shall  find  that  the 
ions  services  of  men  are  there  regarded  as 


10  THE   FIRST  DEIST. 

unfailing  indices  of  what  they  themselves  are ;  and 
the  reason  of  this  is,  that  their  religious  services 
are  so  intimately  connected  with  their  views  of 
divine  truth,  and  their  affections  toward  it.  That 
the  offerings  of  Cain  and  Abel  were  widely  dif- 
ferent, and  indicated  a  widely  different  charac- 
ter in  the  offerers,  is  obvious  from  the  fact,  that 
the  one  was  an  accepted,  while  the  other  was  a 
disapproved  and  rejected  service.  We  are  not  in- 
formed what  these  tokens  of  the  divine  approba- 
tion and  disapprobation  were ;  it  is  not  improba- 
ble that  the  offering  of  Cain  was  regarded  with 
mortifying  and  stinging  neglect;  while  fire  de- 
scended from  heaven  to  consume  the  offering  of 
Abel,  and  the  smoke  of  it  went  up  as  a  "  sweet- 
smelling  savor."  Whence  this  difference  in  the 
divine  conduct  toward  these  early  worshippers? 
A  true  answer  to  this  inquiry  will  set  the  charac- 
ters of  these  two  men  in  their  true  light. 

Here  it  is  obvious  to  remark,  that  their  offerings 
were  presented  with  a  very  different  state  of  mind. 
Both  outwardly  honored  God.  To  the  eye  of 
man,  both  had  the  same  object  of  worship,  and 
both  seemed  to  present  an  acceptable  offering. 
If  we  cast  our  eyes  over  an  assembly  who  come 
together  for  the  worship  of  God,  they  all  appear 
to  j  m  »ssess  the  same  religious  character ;  while,  in 
the  eye  of  Him  who  seeth  not  as  man  seeth,  there 
are  the  broad  and  deep  lines  of  distinction  which 


THE  FIRST  DEIST.  11 

separate  between  his  friends  and  his  enemies.  God 
requires  and  approves  that  which  is  holy.  Though 
Abel  was  a  sinner  as  well  as  Cain,  there  was 
something  in  his  offering  which  God  approved. 
This  approbation  was  withheld  from  the  offering 
of  Cain,  because  it  was  destitute  of  holiness  and  a 
sinful  sacrifice.  God  had  no  partiality  for  Abel, 
and  no  prejudice  against  Cain.  He  knew  what 
was  in  the  heart  of  both,  and  he  treated  both  ac- 
cording to  their  character.  The  sacrifice  of  Abel 
was  a  sincere  and  honest  sacrifice,  and  the  true  ex- 
pression of  a  devout  mind;  the  offering  of  Cain 
had  the  form  of  godliness,  but  was  destitute  of  the 

power. 

It  was  highly  important  to  the  best  interests  of 
our  race,  that,  since  this  difference  existed  in  their 
character,  it  should  be  clearly  brought  out ;  and 
that  God  should  thus  early  read  this  lesson  to  the 
world,  that  he  has  no  pleasure  in  a  heartless  reli- 
gion. A  religion  of  forms,  be  it  ever  so  natural  to 
the  human  heart,  and  ever  so  splendid  and  impos- 
ing, so  long  as  it  has  nothing  to  do  with  the  heart, 
is  a  religion  which  God  abhors.  It  is  a  religion 
to  which  he  foresaw  the  family  of  man  would  be 
greatly  exposed;  and  he  thus  early  raised  his 
warning  voice  against  it.  And  how  affecting  and 
memorable  is  the  admonition !  We  here  behold 
one  who  is  at  heart  a  murderer,  and  who  turns 
out  to  be  a  murderer,  having  all  the  appearance 


12  THE  FIRST  DEIST. 

of  a  religious  and  devout  man ;  making  such  an 
open  avowal  of  his  belief  in  the  divine  existence, 
and  of  his  dependence  upon  him,  that  "  he  brought 
of  the  fruit  of  the  ground  an  offering  unto  the 
Lord."  He  was  an  infidel  at  heart,  notwithstand- 
ing all  this  fair  show  of  piety.  And  God  thus 
publicly  exposed  his  hypocrisy.  He  accepted 
the  sacrifice  of  Abel,  and  with  his  sacrifice  ac- 
cepted also  his  person.  While  Cain  was  cast  out 
of  the  divine  family  as  a  guilty  and  accursed 
man,  Abel  was  adopted  into  it,  and  had  the  place 
and  privileges  of  an  adopted  child.  Cain  found 
no  access  to  God  in  this  act  of  worship ;  there  was 
everything  in  his  own  state  of  mind  that  was  to 
the  last  degree  forbidding  to  this  delightful  fellow- 
ship. Guilt  created  suspicion ;  suspicion,  enmity ; 
and  enmity,  persevering  and  irreclaimable  aliena- 
tion. Abel  had  every  token  of  the  divine  favor, 
every  hope  and  every  promise ;  Cain  had  no  such 
hope  and  no  such  promise,  no  such  support  in 
life  or  in  death,  no  such  holiness  and  heaven.  His 
offering  and  his  person  were  rejected  of  God.  It 
struck  him  to  the  heart  that  God  should  make 
such  a  difference.  He  was  the  first-born,  and  it 
excited  his  jealousy  that  God  should  thus  give 
the  preference  to  the  younger  before  the  older ; 
or  that,  in  a  religious  service,  he  should  have  the 
preference  at  all.  He  was  sad,  his  countenance 
fell,  he  was  displeased  and  irritated,  because  God 


THE  FIRST   DEIST.  13 

thus  rightfully  gave  the  preference  to  his  brother's 
offering.  God  claimed  the  heart  of  Abel,  and 
Abel  gave  him  his  heart.  God  claimed  also  the 
heart  of  Cain ;  and  though  he  had  brought  all  the 
fruits  of  the  earth  and  laid  them  on  the  altar,  God 
would  have  said  to  him  as  he  did  to  the  Jews,  in 
the  days  of  the  prophet,  "  Bring  no  more  vain  ob- 
lations." The  religion  of  a  Deist  is  like  the  religion 
of  Cain. 

The  subject  matter  of  their  offerings  was  also  es- 
sentially different.  "  Cain  brought  of  the  fruits 
of  the  ground  an  offering  unto  the  Lord ;"  Abel 
brought  "  of  the  firstlings  of  his  flock,  and  the  fat 
thereof."  The  offering  of  Cain  appears  to  the  eye 
of  human  reason  the  more  natural  one  of  the  two. 
And  here  was  his  error ;  he  followed  the  leadings 
of  his  blinded  reason.  "The  world  by  wisdom 
knew  not  God."  The  light  of  nature  shows  man 
that  he  has  sinned,  but  does  not  show  him  how 
he  may  find  mercy.  God  is  holy,  and  cannot 
look  on  sin;  man  is  sinful,  vile  to  abjectness,  and 
desperately  wicked.  Between  reflections  upon 
the  character  of  God  and  the  character  of  man, 
human  reason  sees  no  ground  for  hope.  Man 
wants  a  religion,  which  God  will  accept;  and 
would  fain  offer  religious  services  that  will  be 
acceptable  to  God.  This  is  a  discovery  which 
human  reason  cannot  make ;  left  to  itself,  its  de- 
votions are  undevout ;  its  worship,  sin ;  its  piety 


14  THE  FIRST   DEIST. 

impious ;  its  religion  an  outrage  upon  the  divine 
rectitude. 

The  field  of  human  invention  in  this  article  of 
man's  relation  to  the  Deity  began  to  be  very  early 
explored ;  nor  did  its  discoveries  differ  widely 
from  the  rationalism  and  deism  of  subsequent 
ages.  The  savage  of  the  desert  satisfies  himself 
with  offering  to  God  the  fruits  of  his  harvest-field  ; 
the  more  enlightened  rationalist  of  the  present 
age  satisfies  himself  with  offerings  which  have  no 
respect  to  Him,  through  whom  alone  there  is  ac- 
cess ;  while  the  self-righteous  religionist  satisfies 
himself  with  goiug  about  to  establish  a  righteous- 
ness of  his  own,  by  the  deeds  of  the  law.  The 
veriest  infidel  is  satisfied  with  such  a  religion. 
Human  reason  is  never  more  at  fault,  than  when 
it  sets  itself  to  invent  for  itself  a  religion.  It  is 
the  mere  religion  of  thought  and  intellect ;  it  has 
no  solace  for  the  conscience,  and  leaves  the  soul 
barren,  and  feeding  on  husks.  It  exerts  no  practical 
influence.  It  neither  enlightens,  nor  converts,  nor 
comforts,  nor  sanctifies.  It  is  the  merest  delusion, 
if  a  man  satisfy  himself  with  such  a  religion.  He 
may  have  sensibility  and  emotion,  but  they  are 
not  right  emotions.  They  may  rise  to  transcen- 
dental hopes,  and  romantic  joys ;  but  they  are  mere 
excitement,  and  leave  the  soul  under  the  dominion 
of  sin.  Men  are  now,  and  ever  have  been  prone 
to  devise  their  own  systems  of  religious  worship, 


THE   FIRST   DEIST.  15 

in  opposition  to  the  only  acceptable  worship  which 
God  has  revealed  in  his  word.  There  is  nothing 
for  which  they  more  need  the  divine  direction,  and 
a  special  revelation  from  heaven,  than  to  enable 
them  to  answer  the  inquiry,  "  Wherewithal  shall 
I  come  before  the  Lord,  and  bow  myself  before 
the  most  high  God  ?"  They  must  be  instructed  by 
heavenly  love  and  wisdom  ;  else  will  their  own 
ignorance,  and  error,  and  presumption,  lead  them 
farther  from  God  in  those  very  acts  of  religious 
worship  by  which  they  propose  to  draw  nigh  to 
him. 

This  instruction  God  condescended  to  give  to 
Cain  and  Abel.  The  foundation  of  all  acceptable 
worship  was  laid  in  the  promise,  that  the  seed  of 
the  woman  should  bruise  the  head  of  the  serpent. 
Without  this  they  had  been  without  hope.  God 
early  taught  them  to  draw  nigh  to  him  through 
the  promised  Saviour,  and  in  the  offering  of  those 
sacrifices  which  prefigured  the  Christian  atone- 
ment. 

The  institution  of  sacrifices  was  as  old  as  the  in- 
troduction of  sin ;  the  necessity  of  them  is  founded 
upon  the  fact  that  man  is  a  sinner.  "  Without  the 
shedding  of  blood,  there  is  no  remission."  It  is 
"  the  blood  that  maketh  atonement  for  the  soul." 
We  find,  that  Adam  and  Eve,  immediately  after 
their  apostasy,  instead  of  remaining  covered  with 
their  scanty  protection  of  fig-leaves,  were  covered 


16  THE  FIRST  DEIST. 

with  the  skins  of  animals.  Yet,  at  that  period, 
the  original  grant  for  food  was  confined  to  the 
vegetable  creation;  the  permission  of  it  was  not 
until  after  the  flood.  The  inference  is  a  natu- 
ral one,  if  not  unavoidable,  that  the  skins  with 
which  they  were  clothed  were  those  of  animals 
which,  by  the  divine  appointment,  were  offered  in 
sacrifice.  This  truth  is  strongly  implied  in  the 
phraseology,  that  "  God  made  coats  of  skins  and 
clothed  them."  It  was  not  their  own  invention, 
nor  their  own  work ;  they  had  no  right,  of  their 
own  will,  to  slay  the  lambs  of  the  flock  for  this,  or 
for  any  other  purpose  ;  it  was  of  God's  invention 
and  God's  appointment.  God  thus  taught  them 
that  the  foundation  of  their  hope  was  not  only 
in  the  promised  seed  of  the  womam,  but  in  the 
sacrifice  of  that  promised  Saviour.  The  sacri- 
fices he  thus  appointed  shadowed  forth  to  them 
the  necessity  and  the  reality  of  that  one  great 
sacrifice  which  took  the  place  of  all  others,  the 
blood  of  which  possessed  a  higher  value  than 
the  blood  of  bullocks  and  of  goats. 

This  was  their  religion,  and  this  the  way  in  which 
they  drew  nigh  to  God.  This  was  the  religion  which 
God  taught  them,  and  which  they  taught  these  two 
sons.  And  this  is  the  only  religion  the  Bible 
knows,  and  the  only  religion  that  meets  the  exi- 
gencies of  men  as  sinners.  Here  there  is  a  refuge 
for  the  guilty.     Here  is  that  victim  whose  blood 


THE  FIRST  DEIST.  17 

speaketh  better  tilings  than  the  blood  of  Abel, 
and  which  has  made  all  the  reparation  which  the 
most  excited  conscience  demands.  The  devices 
of  men  here  disappear  before  the  wisdom  of  God. 
Here  are  pardon,  and  holiness,  and  eternal  life. 
A  religion  that  does  not  accomplish  this  is  no  re- 
ligion ;  it  is  infidelity ;  it  is  deism,  which  leaves 
the  dark,  unpardoned,  uncomforted,  depraved 
mind,  still  dark,  and  without  God  and  hope. 

This  is  the  religion  which  Abel  accepted  and 
practised,  and  which  was  rejected  by  Cain ;  and 
therefore,  we  say  that  the  one  was  a  deist,  and  the 
other  was  a  Christian. 

Behold  in  Cain  the  first  deist  which  the  world 
ever  saw.  It  is  a  melancholy  fact,  that  this  first- 
born of  man  should  have  been  a  deist ;  yet  was  he 
a  worthy  representative  of  those  who  reject  the 
religion  of  Christ,  and  lean  to  their  own  under- 
standing and  the  inventions  of  men.  This  is  the 
distinguishing  characteristic  of  all  deists.  Amid 
all  the  various  phases  which  their  systems  exhibit, 
the  one  and  main  object  of  them  all  is  to  set  aside 
the  Christian  revelation,  and  substitute  natural 
religion,  the  religion  of  reason,  the  religion  of  Cain 
in  its  place.  Herbert  professes  to  believe  in  God, 
but  regards  the  doctrines  of  Christianity  as  fables 
and  dreams.  Blount  assails  the  doctrine  of  a  Me- 
diator as  unworthy  of  God,  and  magnifies  the  ora- 
cles of  reason.     The  Earl  of  Shaftesbury,  with  a 


18  THE  FIRST  DEIST. 

force  and  elegance  of  diction  that  might  have  been 
better  employed,  ridicules  Christianity  and  extols 
the  religion  of  paganism.  Tlnclal  professes  a  re- 
gard for  Christianity,  but  a  higher  regard  for  rea- 
son and  nature.  This  was  deism,  and  this  was  the 
religion  of  Cain.  He  reasoned  as  the  great  mass 
of  deistical  and  Unitarian  writers  have  reasoned, 
in  their  rejection  of  that  propitiation  for  sin  which 
God  has  set  forth.  He  professed  to  be  a  religious 
man;  but  he  chose  to  worship  God  in  his  own 
way,  guided  by  the  lights  of  reason  and  nature,  to 
the  utter  contempt  of  that  worship  revealed  by 
God  in  his  word. 

Behold  now  in  Abel,  the  first  descendant  of 
Adam  who  was  a  Christian.  He  believed  the 
record  which  God  had  given  of  his  son,  in  the  first 
promise.  We  have  an  apostle's  testimony  for  this, 
where  he  asserts, "  By  faith  Abel  offered  unto  God 
a  more  excellent  sacrifice  than  Cain."  He  wor- 
shipped God,  and  made  this  early  expression  of 
his  homage  and  devotement,  by  going  to  God  in 
the  name,  and  with  a  trusting  confidence  in  the 
redemption  of  his  Son.  He  offered  the  firstlings 
of  his  flocks.  Reason  and  nature  gave  him  no 
warrant  to  do  this.  It  was  a  most  unnatural  of- 
fering ;  nor  would  the  thought  have  once  entered 
into  his  mind,  nor  would  he  have  cherished  it,  had 
he  not  been  instructed  by  God  himself.  Such  a 
sacrifice  could  not  have  been  acceptable,  had  it  not 


THE   FIRST  DEIST.  19 

been  of  divine  appointment.  God  himself  has  said, 
"  In  vain  do  they  worship  me,  teaching  for  doc- 
trines the  commandments  of  men."  It  were  a  vain 
sacrifice,  if  it  had  been  an  invention  of  his  own; 
it  was  an  accepted  sacrifice,  and  the  conclusion  is 
irresistible  that  it  was  of  divine  appointment.  He 
offered  it  "  by  faith ;"  and  faith,  we  are  told,  "  com- 
eth  by  hearing,  and  hearing  by  the  word  of  God." 
He  was  the  first  descendant  of  Adam,  who,  with 
his  own  hands,  shed  the  blood  of  the  innocent  for 
the  guilty,  and  thereby  expressed  his  faith  in  him 
whose  blood  cleanseth  from  all  sin.  This  gave  his 
offering  the  preeminence.  God's  method  of  grace 
was  thus  early  recorded,  so  that  the  truth  might 
never  be  lost  siofht  of  that  "  there  is  no  other  name 

o 

given  under  heaven  among  men,"  whether  Jew  or 
Gentile,  whether  in  the  early  dawn  of  time,  or  in 
these  last  days,  but  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ.  This 
godly  young  man  thus  found  peace  and  pardon, 
and  became  prepared  for  his  early,  and  sudden, 
and  cruel  death.  The  blow  that  severed  him  from 
earth,  translated  him  to  heaven.  It  was  a  dark 
hour  that  came  upon  him  as  he  wandered  in  un- 
suspecting confidence  with  that  deistical  and  mur- 
derous brother ;  it  was  an  unlooked  for  cloud — a 
rushing  tempest ;  but  it  bore  him  to  his  rest.  So 
long  as  the  names  of  Cain  and  Abel  are  remem- 
bered among  men,  will  it  be  known  that  there  is 
a  difference  between  Christianity  and  Deism ;  and 


20  THE   FIRST   DEIST. 

that  while  the  deist  is  a  vagabond  in  the  earth, 
and  dies  an  exile  from  God's  family ;  the  Christian 
is  God's  own  child,  and  be  the  earthly  house  of  his 
tabernacle  gradually  dissolved,  or  rudely  torn 
down,  he  has  a  building  of  God,  an  house  not 
made  with  hands,  eternal  in  the  heavens. 

But  the  most  important  thought  on  this  part  of 
our  subject,  is  the  most  familiar  thought ;  nor  may  I 
express  it  without  somewhat  more  illustration  than 
the  hints  just  suggested.  The  Scriptures  reveal 
two  opposite  states  of  mind  in  men  toward  them- 
selves. There  is  a  state  of  moral  feeling  which  is 
expressive  only  of  self-confidence ;  it  is  a  self- 
righteous  and  self-justifying  spirit ;  a  spirit'  which 
leads  them  to  hope  for  acceptance  with  God  be- 
cause they  are  not  so  bad  as  other  men.  It  wearies 
itself  by  seeking  to  be  justified  before  God  by 
prayers,  and  offerings,  and  meritorious  works  and 
deeds  of  the  law.  Such  was  the  spirit  of  the  young 
ruler,  whose  boast  was,  "  All  these  things  have  I 
done  from  my  youth  up ;  what  lack  I  yet  ?"  Such 
was  the  spirit  of  the  Pharisee,  who  stood  praying 
in  the  temple,  when  he  ventured  to  appeal  to  his 
Maker  and  say, "  God,  I  thank  thee  that  I  am  not 
as  other  men  ;"  and  such  was  the  spirit  of  the  Phari- 
sees generally,  who  "  made  their  boast  of  honoring 
the  law."  Such  was  eminently  the  spirit  of  Saul 
of  Tarsus,  who  "  boasted  in  himself  that  he  was 
righteous,  and  despised  others."  On  the  other  hand, 


THE  FIRST  DEIST.  21 

there  is  a  state  of  feeling  which  every  right-hearted 
man  has  toward  himself,  which  is  the  opposite  of  all 
this.  God  often  speaks  of  this  state  of  mind  in  his 
word,  and  of  the  necessity  of  possessing  it,  because, 
without  it,  no  man  feels  his  need  of  Jesus  Christ  as 
his  Saviour.  It  was  the  spirit  of  the  Psalmist,  when 
he  said,  "  I  acknowledge  my  transgression,  and  my 
sin  is  ever  before  me.  Against  thee,  thee  only 
have  I  sinned,  and  done  this  evil  in  thy  sight,  that 
thou  mightest  be  clear  when  thou  speakest,  and 
just  when  thou  judgest."  It  was  the  spirit  of  the 
prodigal  when  he  exclaimed,  "  Father,  I  have  sin- 
ned against  heaven  and  before  thee,  and  am  no 
more  worthy  to  be  called  thy  son."  It  was  the 
spirit  of  the  publican,  when  he  smote  upon  his 
breast  and  said,  "  God  be  merciful  to  me  a  sinner !" 
Such  was  the  spirit  of  Abel.  This  is  evinced 
by  the  fact,  that  his  offering  was  made  in  faith  in 
the  "  blood  of  sprinkling."  Of  all  the  Christian 
graces,  the  most  confiding  is  the  most  humble. 
The  grand  sentiment  of  faith  is  that  the  sinner  is 
ill-deserving,  and  that  salvation  is  all  of  grace.  A 
self-complacent,  self-righteous,  self-justifying  faith 
in  the  Lamb  of  God  as  the  propitiation  for  sin  is 
as  great  an  absurdity,  as  words  can  express.  Sin 
makes  the  sinner  vile,  and  justice  sinks  him  low. 
The  humility  which  godly  men  exercise  consists 
in  that  self-ahasement  which  sinks  them  as  low  as 
their    iniquity  abases   them;    which  justifies   the 


22  THE   FIRST   DEIST. 

condemning  sentence  of  the  divine  law  ;  and  which 
looks  with  hope  only  toward  God's  holy  hill, 
where  the  appointed  and  bleeding  victim  pays  the 
ransom,  and  where  "grace  reigns  through  right- 
eousness unto  eternal  life,  by  Jesus  Christ  our 
Lord." 

Without  this  spirit,  God  could  not  have  ac- 
cepted Abel's  offering ;  Abel  himself  would  not 
have  offered  the  lamb  in  sacrifice.  Never  could 
he  have  taken  the  knife  to  slay  the  innocent  for 
the  guilty,  had  he  not  possessed  a  true  sense  of  his 
sins,  and  an  apprehension  of  the  mercy  of  God  in 
Christ.  Gam,  on  the  other  hand,  had  none  of  this 
spirit.  He  presented  his  offering  of  the  fruits  of 
the  ground  with  all  the  self-complacency  and  self- 
righteousness  of  a  man  who  felt  that  his  good 
works  and  religious  services  gave  him  a  claim  of 
right  to  the  divine  acceptance.  He  had  persuaded 
himself,  notwithstanding  a  murderous  heart  throb- 
bed within  his  bosom,  that  he  had  virtues,  and 
merits,  and  a  title  to  the  divine  favor,  which  it 
would  be  injustice  to  deny.  He  relied  upon  his 
supposed  and  assumed  worthiness  of  the  divine 
favor,  to  the  contempt  of  that  only  method  of  mer- 
cy and  acceptance  which  God  had  thus  early  ap- 
pointed, through  the  merits  of  another.  He  had 
no  true  knowledge  of  his  sin  and  guilt,  and  no 
sense  of  his  need  of  mercy  through  the  woman's 
seed,  even  though  he  himself  was  so  vile.    He  had 


THE  FIRST  DEIST.  23 

not  one  self-abasing  emotion.  He  knew  not  what 
it  was  to  repent  himself  of  his  wickedness,  humble 
himself  before  God,  and  seek  his  pardoning  mercy. 
He  put  himself  upon  his  rights,  and  God  left  him 
to  maintain  his  rights  as  best  he  could.  He  put 
himself  upon  law  and  justice,  and  God  tried  him, 
and  gave  him  law  and  justice.  His  offering  was 
rejected.  And  when  he  saw  that  he  was  con- 
demned, "his  countenance  fell."  His  wrath  was 
kindled  against  God ;  his  hands  were  full  of  blood. 
He  turned  away  and  persevered  in  his  infidelity. 
The  means  of  grace  and  salvation  were  still  at 
his  door;  but  he  neglected  them,  abused  them, 
despised  them,  and  became  "a  vessel  of  wrath 
fitted  to  destruction."  And  such  is  the  history 
of  every  man  who  ultimately  rejects  the  salvation 
of  the  gospel.  He  that  is  not  for  Christ,  is  against 
him.  There  is  no  middle  ground  between  believ- 
ing and  disbelieving ;  no  half-way  house  between 
Christianity  and  infidelity. 

We  dwell  on  one  more  thought,  before  we  draw 
the  curtain  on  the  history  of  these  two  young  men. 
It  is  a  question  of  interest,  How  came  they  thus  to 
differ  in  their  character  and  end  ?  I  speak  not 
now  of  the  grace  that  made  the  Christian  differ 
from  the  Deist;  of  that  I  shall  have  to  speak 
more  largely  in  our  next  chapter.  I  speak  of  the 
means,  the  instrumental  causes,  the  more  remote 
agencies  which  exerted  so  powerful  an  influence. 


24  THE  FIRST  DEIST. 

It  was  not  a  difference  in  their  religious  educa- 
tion ;  for  they  were  both  the  children  of  the  same 
parents,  both  beloved,  and  both  enjoying  the  same 
religious  example,  instruction,  and  prayers.  This 
great  fact  should  ever  be  borne  in  mind,  and  it  is 
among  the  first  things  which  the  early  history  of 
our  race  discloses,  that  the  same  religious  instruc- 
tion of  ten  produces  widely  different  results. 

When  we  consider  the  direful  effects  of  the  first 
apostasy,  and  what  a  wreck  it  has  made  of  the 
heart  of  man,  it  is  not  unnatural  to  conclude  that 
the  truth  of  God  should  make  impressions,  for 
weal  or  for  woe,  on  every  mind  to  which  it  has 
access.  It  accords  with  the  method  of  divine 
grace,  that  where  it  is  received,  it  exerts  a  pro- 
gressive influence ;  while  it  accords  with  the  intel- 
lectual and  moral  nature  of  fallen  man,  that  where 
it  is  rejected,  it  gradually  loses  its  force,  and 
hardens  the  heart.  While  it  becomes  the  natural 
aliment  of  one  class  of  minds,  and  they  live  and 
grow  upon  it ;  in  the  opposite  class  it  excites  hos- 
tility, provokes  resistance,  and  awakens  slumber- 
ing wickedness.  Those  there  are  who  never  grow 
so  rapidly  in  sin,  and  become  so  precociously  ripe 
for  destruction,  as  when  they  become  blighted  in 
their  youth,  and  their  dry  and  fruitless  branches 
are  spread  out  under  the  dews  and  rains  of  heaven. 
Facts,  from  the  days  of  Cain  to  the  present  hour, 
abundantly  illustrate  these  observations.     Truth 


THE  FIRST  DEIST.  25 

is  a  two-edged  sword  ;  it  always  wounds.  It  is 
"  a  sweet  savor  of  Christ  in  them  that  are  saved, 
and  in  them  that  perish.  To  the  one  it  is  the 
savor  of  death  unto  death ;  to  the  other  the  savor 
of  life  unto  life." 

Cain  was  not  an  uninstructed  man.  Some  of 
the  most  wonderful  facts,  and  some  of  the  most 
amazing  truths,  had  been  spread  before  his  mind. 
He  was  the  first-born  of  the  race,  and  lived  amid 
wonderful  realities.  A  field  of  thought  Was  pre- 
sented to  his  view,  which,  if  he  had  not  trodden 
under  his  feet,  would  have  yielded  flowers  and 
fruit ;  to  him  it  was  a  barren  waste.  And  this  is 
one  of  the  reasons  why,  with  all  his  religious  in- 
structions, he  became  a  deist.  He  hated  the  truth 
of  God. 

He  had  also  a  strong  desire  to  get  rid  of  moral 
obligation.  This  is  always  one  of  the  motives  to 
infidelity.  When  men  now  read  the  Scriptures, 
and  listen  to  a  preached  gospel,  they  feel  the  ob- 
ligation to  become  Christians  ;  and  they  can  think 
of  no  method  by  which  they  can  so  effectually 
weaken  and  destroy  this  sense  of  obligation,  as  by 
disbelieving  what  they  read  and  hear.  They  try 
to  disbelieve  it;  and  they  often  pretend  to  have 
brought  their  minds  into  this  state  of  unbelief,  be- 
cause it  emboldens  them  to  cast  off  the  sense  of 
religious  obligation.  Men  who  hate  to  feel  the 
obligations  of  true  piety,  are  driven  to  this  resort 

VOL.  II. 2 


26  THE   FIRST  DEIST. 

for  the  sake  of  silencing  their  own  consciences. 
Cain  well  knew  the  religion  of  his  parents ;  but 
he  was  a  bold  free-thinker,  and  resolved  not  to  be 
under  any  such  bonds. 

Nor  is  it  at  all  improbable  that  he  prided  him- 
self upon  his  peculiar  way  of  thinking.  It  is  quite 
likely  that  he  set  himself  to  oppose  the  religious 
views  of  Abel,  and  exerted  his  ingenuity  in  calling 
in  question  the  reasonableness  of  the  sacrifice  of- 
fered by  his  believing  brother.  He  took  pleasure 
in  contradicting  the  received  religion  of  his  family, 
in  marking  out  a  path  for  himself,  and,  instead  of 
following  in  their  steps,  setting  himself  up  as  the 
great  leader  of  infidelity. 

Cain  was  moreover  a  very  wicked  man;  and 
this  was  the  true  source  of  his  deistical  views.  His 
subsequent  conduct  shows  what  he  was ;  and  in 
view  of  it,  it  is  not  unnatural  to  ask,  how  could 
such  a  man  be  anything  else  than  a  deist  ?  "  Light 
is  come  into  the  world,  and  men  have  loved  dark- 
ness rather  than  light,  because  their  deeds  are 
evil."  This  is  the  cause  of  all  the  infidelity  in  the 
world.  Wicked  men,  if  they  mean  to  remain 
wicked,  will  not  become  Christians. 

We  plead  guilty  to  the  charge  of  uttering  no 
new  truths  in  the  present  chapter ;  we  do  not  plead 
guilty  to  the  utterance  of  truths  that  are  unim- 
portant. The  great  object  of  God's  revelation  is  to 
disclose  the  method  of  acceptance  with  him.     The 


THE   FIRST   DEIST.  27 

fact  is  a  solemn  and  affecting  one,  that  men  are 
sinners.  It  is  a  fearful  thing  to  fall  into  the  hands 
of  the  living  God.  Angels  found  it  so  when  they 
fell,  and  were  thrust  down  in  chains  of  darkness. 
Our  first  parents  found  it  so,  when  they  were 
doomed  to  wander  in  a  world  that  was  cursed  for 
their  sake,  to  go  down  to  the  grave,  and  to  be 
righteously  exposed  to  the  wrath  and  curse  of 
God.  All  have  found  it  so  who  have  lived  and 
died  in  sin,  and  now  have  their  abode  in  the  world 
where  "  the  worm  dieth  not,  and  the  fire  is  not 
quenched.1'  Every  man  will  find  it  so  who  does 
not  seasonably  admit  the  inquiry,  "  How  shall  I 
find  acceptance  with  God  ?  what  hope  is  there  for 
such  a  sinner  ?  He  may  well  take  heed,  in  con- 
sidering this  question,  how  he  confides  in  the  tra- 
ditions, or  commandments  of  men,  or  to  the  delu- 
sions of  the  adversary,  and  his  own  wicked  heart. 
If  some  there  be  who  say,  there  is  no  occa- 
sion for  solicitude  in  respect  to  this  matter  ;  they 
may  not  be  believed.  It  is  an  easy  thing  to  be  de- 
ceived with  regard  to  one's  own  character.  Men 
are  sufficiently  inclined  to  think  well  of  themselves. 
Cain  marvelled  that  he  was  not  accepted.  If 
there  be  those  who  flatter  themselves  that  it  is 
enough  to  reform  their  habits  of  outward  sin,  and 
be  more  attentive  to  the  external  duties  of  moral- 
ity and  religion ;  we  have  nothing  to  say  against 
such  reform  and  such  seriousness ;  they  are  greatly 


28  THE  FIRST  DEIST. 

needed.  But  these  give  no  answer  to  the  great 
question,  how  shall  I  find  acceptance  with  God  ? 
Cain  did  this,  and  yet  was  the  vagabond  of  his 
race.  Most  seasonable  are  those  counsels  of  heav- 
enly wisdom  which  announce  that  one  great  sacri- 
fice, and  tells  of  him  who  is  the  only  way,  the 
new  and  living  way.  There  is  no  holiness,  no 
pardon,  no  peace,  no  heaven,  where  is  no  atoning 
Saviour.  There  is  but  this  one  foundation  of 
hope.  There  is  but  this  one  gospel,  and  this  one 
system  of  truth  and  duty.  Nor  is  there  any  em- 
barrassment on  this  great  subject  if  men  will  go 
to  the  word  of  God.  Abel,  though  dead,  "  yet 
speaketh,"  and  shows  the  way  of  life. 

Those  who,  like  Cain,  follow  their  own  fancies 
in  opposition  to  the  instructions  of  heavenly  wis- 
dom ;  who  devise  a  religion  of  their  own  in  neg- 
lect of  that  which  God  has  revealed ;  who  trust 
in  refuges  of  lies,  and  turn  away  from  the  only 
hope  set  before  them  in  the  gospel,  show  what  is 
in  their  hearts,  and  that  they  possess  a  character 
which  is  unfitted  for  the  kingdom  of  God.  This 
was  the  test  that  brought  out  the  true  character 
of  Abel  and  Cain ;  and  it  is  equally  decisive  in  its 
application  to  ourselves.  .Abel  fell  in  with  the 
method  of  redemption  revealed,  obscurely  as  it 
was,  in  that  early  age  of  the  world ;  Cain  fell  out 
with  it ;  and  their  course  of  conduct  toward  that 
great  Sacrifice  decided  their  character.     We  also 


THE  FIRST  DEIST.  29 

have  the  same  test,  more  clearly  revealed,  and 
therefore  more  easily  applied.     A  method  of  sal- 
vation has  been  disclosed  to  our  fallen  world  which 
is  the  wonder  of  the  universe.     It  is  the  wonder 
of  God's  wondrous  government,  that  he  can  main- 
tain his  truth  and  justice,  and  yet  pardon  and  save 
such  creatures  as  his  truth  and  justice  condemn. 
God  manifest  in  the  flesh,  Deity  united  with  hu- 
manity—an atoning  sacrifice  by  the  death  of  the 
cross_salvation  by  that  cross,  through  faith  in  the 
name  of  the  great  Sufferer,— these  are  the  truths 
which  are  stumbling-blocks  and  foolishness  to  the 
men  of  the  world ;  and  to  those  who  believe  the 
wisdom  of  God  and  the  power  of  God.     Let  every 
man  ask  himself  how  he  is  affected  by  them? 
what  interest  do  they  awaken  in  his  bosom?  what 
hopes  does  he  build  upon  them  ?     A  true  answer 
to  these  questions  decides  his  character  and  destiny. 
If  he  revolts  from  these  great  truths  and  such  a 
method  of  mercy  as  too  humbling  to  human  rea- 
son to  be  received,  and  still  more  humbling  to  the 
pride  of  his  heart ;  and  if  he  continues  so  to  do, 
he  puts  himself  beyond  the  reach  of  reform,  and 
beyond  the  possibility  of  acceptance  with  God. 
He  treads  under  his  feet  the  blood  of  the  Son  of 
God,  and  in  doing  this  he  opposes  and  rejects  that 
great  goodness  and  mercy,  that  wondrous  wisdom 
and  glory  of  God  manifested  in  the  cross  of  his  Son. 
No  matter  what  else  the  sinner  does,  if  he  is  hos- 


30  THE  FIRST  DEIST. 

tile  to  this  method  of  mercy,  he  is  lost.  No  mat- 
ter how  good,  how  moral,  how  religious  he  is,  if 
he  rejects  this  method  of  mercy,  he  is  lost.  His 
acceptance  or  his  rejection  of  this  method  of  mercy 
decides  his  goodness,  his  morality,  his  religion,  his 
eternal  destiny. 

The  dwellers  in  these  Christian  lands  occupy  a 
high  eminence  of  privilege,  in  that  from  Sab- 
bath to  Sabbath,  from  one  new  moon  to  another, 
Jesus  Christ  is  evidently  set  forth  crucified  in 
the  midst  of  them.  Wisdom  hath  killed  her 
beasts,  and  mingled  her  wine,  and  prepared  her 
supper,  and  sent  forth  her  messengers  to  say, 
All  things  are  ready.  Beware  of  turning  a  deaf 
ear  to  these  solicitations  of  redeeming  love.  Be- 
ware of  the  guilt  of  Cain,  lest  you  be  partakers 
of  his  spirit,  bear  his  woes,  and  become  an  eternal 
exile  from  the  presence  of  God.  His  guilty  course 
was  coming  to  its  maturity,  when  he  deliberately 
rejected  the  truth,  that  "  without  the  shedding  of 
blood  there  is  no  remission."  Only  to  think  of 
that  state  of  mind  in  which  a  man  regards  him- 
self as  not  needing  an  atonement !  Do  not  thus 
trifle  with  this  great  Sacrifice.  No,  do  this  no 
longer.  Relying  on  the  help  of  Almighty  grace, 
listen  to  the  God  of  heaven  and  honor  the  sacri- 
fice of  his  Son.  If  you  say,  "  I  am  embarrassed ; 
I  know  not  what  to  do ;  I  am  in  darkness ;.  I  can- 
not see  my  way  clear:"   then  earnestly  cry  for 


THE   FIRST   DEIST.  31 

light.  Only  let  your  heart  be  toward  your  duty 
and  your  Saviour,  and  light  will  soon  shine  upon 
your  path.  You  will  come  to  him  as  you  are,  be- 
cause the  Son  of  man  came  to  seek  and  to  save 
that  which  was  lost.  You  will  come  as  you  are, 
because  he  came  not  to  call  the  righteous,  but  sin- 
ners to  repentance.  You  will  come  as  you  are,  be- 
cause when  we  were  without  strength,  Christ  died 
for  the  ungodly.  You  will  come  as  you  are,  and 
because  you  are  poor,  and  miserable,  and  blind, 
and  wretched  and  in  want  of  all  things,  to  be  filled 
from  his  fulness,  and  be  clothed  upon  with  a  right- 
eousness that  is  not  yours,  but  his  who  wrought 
and  gives  it ;  yes,  he  gives,  freely  gives  it.  It  is  all 
of  grace,  matchless,  unmeasurable  grace.  You 
cannot  purchase  it,  for  it  is  above  all  price ;  the 
highest  bidder  for  it  will  find  that  the  greater 
Giver  disdains  a  bribe.  You  cannot  make  your- 
self worthy  of  it,  or  in  any  way  merit  it,  by  wait- 
ing ever  so  long.  The  best  deserve  nothing  but 
destruction.  He  gives  it,  and  to  those  who  see 
and  feel  that  they  have  no  righteousness  of  their 
own  to  plead;  that  they  have  nothing  and  are 
nothing;  and  that  the  most  fitting  qualification 
for  receiving  it,  is  a  heart  that  gives  him  all  the 
praise. 


CHAPTER    XV. 
€)fi  fm\  %t\  nf  Sisrrinrinittttig   #ran. 

God's  truth  is  always  the  same.  Moses  was  as 
staunch  a  believer  in  the  doctrines  of  grace  as 
Paul ;  nay,  Paul  himself  refers  to  Moses  as  himself 
inculcating  the  great  doctrine  of  God's  discrimi- 
nating grace.  There  are  those  who  would  fain 
have  us  believe  that  there  is  no  such  thing.  So 
the  devil  taught  our  credulous  mother,  when, 
with  impudent  and  lying  tongue,  he  uttered  the 
words,  "  Thou  shalt  not  surely  die."  There  are 
those  also  who  would  have  us  carried  away  by  the 
modern  notion,  that  God  saves  all  he  is  able  to 
save ;  and  that  if  any  are  lost,  it  is  because  his 
almighty  power  cannot  convert  them.  If  this 
theory  were  true,  instead  of  uttering  the  language, 
"  I  will  have  mercy  upon  whom  I  will  have  mer- 
cy," we  should  somewhere  have  heard  him  say,  I 
will  have  mercy  upon  whom  I  am  able  to  have 
mercy. 

It  is  not  the  most  popular  theme,  when  we  speak 


THE  FIRST  ACT  OF  DISCRIMINATING  GRACE.       33 

of  God's  discriminating  grace  ;  yet  it  is  very  early 
brought  to  our  consideration,  and  well  deserves  to 
be  regarded  as  among  the  "  first  things"  revealed 
by  his  Spirit. 

Cain  and  Abel  were  brothers ;  the  evidence 
from  the  sacred  writings  would  seem  to  justify  the 
conclusion,  that  they  were  twin  brothers.  Yet, 
how  great  was  the  difference  in  their  characters  ! 
They  were  born  with  the  same  corrupt  and  totally 
depraved  nature  ;  they  enjoyed  the  same  parental 
solicitude,  and  the  same  religious  nurture  ;  yet  the 
one  was  the  confiding,  the  dutiful  child  of  God, 
the  other  was  a  deist  and  a  murderer.  Whence 
this  difference  ?  and  who  made  it  ? 

They  are  some  of  the  "  deep  things  of  God"  to 
which  these  inquiries  conduct  us  ;  but  we  have  no 
sympathy  with  those  who,  in  this  time-serving  age, 
deem  them  unprofitable  things,  and  unfitting  the 
pulpit  or  the  press.  We  confess  ourselves  wearied 
with  this  dwarfish  theology ;  nor  do  we  expect 
to  see  the  church  of  God  putting  on  her  gar- 
ments of  strength  and  salvation,  until  her  pul- 
pits become  more  manly  in  asserting  the  great  pe- 
culiarities of  the  Christian  faith,  and  her  presses, 
instead  of  "  making  a  gain  of  godliness,"  deem 
"  godliness  with  contentment  great  gain." 

If  there  be  a  truth  that  humbles  the  lofty  looks 
of  man,  it  is  that  he  is  absolutely  dependent  on 
discriminating  grace.     If  the  righteous  were  made 


34       THE  FIRST  ACT  OF   DISCRIMINATING   GRACE 

to  differ  from  the  wicked,  because  they  deserve  it, 
they  would  have  whereof  to  glory.  But  to  differ 
from  the  world  that  lieth  in  wickedness,  and  be 
saved  only  by  sovereign  grace,  is  one  of  those 
truths  that  strips  them  of  every  rag  of  self-right- 
eousness, and  that  may  well  banish  every  relic  of 
pride  from  their  hearts.  It  is  a  truth  which  ex- 
alts God  on  the  throne,  and  humbles  the  sinner  at 
his  feet.  A  creature  that  is  polluted — a  sinner 
that  is  snatched  from  the  pit  by  the  outstretched 
hand  of  sovereign  mercy,  has  nothing  in  which  to 
glory  save  the  cross  of  Christ. 

"  If  thou  take  forth  the  precious  from  the  vile," 
saith  God  to  the  prophet,  "  thou  shalt  be  as  my 
mouth."  It  is  not  more  true  that  there  was  a  dif- 
ference between  Cain  and  Abel,  than  that  there  is 
a  difference  between  all  good  men  and  bad.  There 
is  no  such  thing  as  neutrality  in  the  great  contest 
which  agitates  the  moral  world.  He  that  is  not 
with  me,  saith  the  Saviour,  is  against  me.  The 
opposition  is  as  direct  and  conflicting,  as  the  dif- 
ference between  right  and  wrong.  The  righteous 
indeed  are  not  so  good,  nor  are  the  wicked  so  bad, 
either  as  they  can  be  here,  or  will  be  hereafter ; 
yet  is  there  a  radical  difference  between  them.  A 
good  man  is  at  best  a  very  imperfect  man ;  and 
yet  he  differs  from  one  who  is  altogether  sinful. 
He  has  some  true  holiness ;  which  is  more  than  can 
be  said  of  any  wicked  man  in  the  world.     This  is 


THE  FIRST  ACT   OF   DISCRIMINATING   GRACE.       35 

the  point  where  the  difference  begins.  The  con- 
sequence of  this  moral  divergency  is,  that  the 
righteous  are  habitually  holy,  though  sometimes 
sinful ;  while  the  wicked  are  always  sinful,  and 
never  holy.  Holiness  begun,  habitual  holiness,  is 
the  character  of  the  righteous ;  total,  unmingled 
sinfulness,  constitutes  the  character  of  the  wicked. 

Nor  is  this  difference  small.  Imperfect  as  it  is, 
the  character  of  the  righteous  is  the  fruit  of  the 
Spirit.  Every  one  who  possesses  it  is  a  renewed 
man  and  born  of  God.  The  promises  of  the  gos- 
pel are  all  made  even  to  the  least  degree  of  grace ; 
where  this  is  wanting,  instead  of  promises,  there 
are  all  the  curses  written  in  God's  book.  We  re- 
peat the  thought,  that  holiness  thus  begun  in  the 
soul  is  the  first  point  in  the  dividing  line  between 
the  friends  of  God  and  his  foes,  between  the 
church  and  the  world.  Let  men  differ  here,  and 
continue  to  differ,  and  the  difference  will  widen, 
till  the  one  is  "meet  for  the  inheritance  of  the 
saints  in  light,"  and  the  other  is  a  "  vessel  of  wrath 
fitted  to  destruction."  Let  them  differ  here,  and 
there  is  a  perfect  contrariety  in  their  governing 
principles,  their  affections,  their  designs,  their  con- 
duct, their  whole  character. 

This  is  not  merely  a  philosophical,  but  a  great 
practical  truth.  Where  there  is  the  least  degree 
of  holiness,  there  is  that  supreme  love  to  God, 
which  is  the  germ  of  every  holy  affection ;  where 


36       THE  FIRST  ACT  OF  DISCRIMINATING  GRACE. 

this  is  wanting,  there  is  that  carnal  mind  which  is 
enmity  against  God,  and  which,  as  occasions  and 
incitements  are  furnished,  will  express  itself  in 
every  affection  that  is  sinful.  The  righteous  are 
penitent ;  the  wicked  are  impenitent.  The  former 
is  a  believer  in  the  Lord  Jesus;  the  latter  rejects 
the  Saviour,  and  treats  the  offers  of  mercy  with 
indifference  and  contempt.  The  former  is  clothed 
with  humility ;  the  latter  inflated  with  pride.  The 
former  denies  himself  and  takes  up  the  cross ;  the 
latter  cherishes  the  habits  of  self-indulgence,  and 
esteems  the  cross  a  burden  and  reproach.  That 
is  cheerfully  resigned  to  the  will  and  designs  of 
God ;  this  is  displeased  that  his  will  and  purposes 
are  not  different  from  what  they  are.  The  right- 
eous looks  abroad  into  the  world,  rejoicing  that 
God  is  on  the  throne;  the  other  contends  with 
his  Maker,  has  the  heart  of  a  rebel,  and  would 
fain  make  the  will  of  God  subservient  to  his  own. 
The  righteous  are  attracted  to  something  more 
than  their  own  selfish  interests ;  their  love  is  large 
and  diffusive,  and  terminates  on  objects  that  are 
endeared  to  the  Infinite  Mind ;  the  wicked  are  at- 
tached to  interests  that  are  private  and  partial ; 
their  love  is  contracted,  and  their  heart  revolves 
in  that  little  circle  of  which  self  is  the  centre. 
The  righteous  are  habitually  obedient  to  the 
divine  commands ;  the  wicked  always  disobe- 
dient.    The  righteous  make  progress  in  this  di- 


THE  FIRST  ACT  OF  DISCRIMINATING  GRACE.       37 

vine  life,  and  persevere  in  it ;  the  wicked  perse- 
vere and  wax  worse  and  worse  in  their  wicked- 
ness. The  wicked  live  for  time ;  the  righteous  for 
eternity.  The  one  bears  "  the  image  of  the  heav- 
enly," and  puts  on  "  the  new  man  which  after  God 
is  created  in  righteousness  and  true  holiness ,"  the 
other  bears  "the  image  of  the  earthly," and  re- 
tains all  the  resemblance  of  the  "  old  man  which 
is  corrupt  according  to  the  deceitful  lusts."  While 
the  one  is  alive  in  Christ,  the  other  is  dead  in  tres- 
passes and  sins ;  and  while  the  former  possess  a 
character,  dignified,  amiable,  and  lovely,  the  lat- 
ter are  deformed  by  sin,  degraded,  and  odious. 
While  the  righteous  are  prepared  for  the  elevated 
service  and  enjoyment  of  heaven,  the  wicked  are 
prepared  for  the  vile  employment  and  deplorable 
wretchedness  of  hell.  The  saint  is  already  an  "  in- 
fant angel ;"  the  sinner  an  "  embryo  fiend." 

Nor  is  the  difference  in  their  state  less  consider- 
able than  the  difference  in  their  character.  The 
righteous  are  reconciled  to  God,  and  made  nigh  by 
the  blood  of  the  cross  ;  the  wicked  are  alienated 
from  him,  and  afar  off.  The  reconciliation  be- 
tween God  and  his  people  is  mutual ;  they  are 
friends  to  him,  and  he  is  a  friend  to  them ;  and  the 
alienation  between  God  and  his  enemies  is  mutual ; 
they  are  enemies  to  him,  and  he  is  an  enemy  to 
them.  The  righteous  are  pardoned,  liberated 
from  the  condemning  sentence  of  the  law,  accepted 


38       THE   FIRST   ACT  OF   DISCRIMINATING   GRACE. 

and  justified;  the  wicked  are  in  a  state  of  con- 
demnation, and  the  wrath  of  God  abideth  on  them. 
The  righteous  are  tranquil,  because  they  have  the 
relief  of  pardon  and  grace ;  the  wicked  are  like 
the  troubled  sea,  because  they  bear  the  weight  of 
unpardoned  sin.  The  one  knows  the  preciousness 
of  the  blood  of  sprinkling ;  the  other  the  misery 
of  rejecting  it.  The  unbeliever  is  an  outcast ;  the 
believer  an  adopted  child.  The  one  enjoys  the 
liberty  of  the  sons  of  God ;  the  other  is  a  prisoner, 
fast  bound  in  chains  of  iniquity.  The  one  enjoys 
all  that  protection,  and  discipline,  and  intercourse 
with  his  heavenly  Father  which  is  the  privilege 
of  sons;  the  other  is  without  God  and  without 
hope  in  the  world.  The  Christian  is  an  heir  of 
God,  and  joint  heir  with  Christ,  to  an  unfading  in- 
heritance ;  the  sinner  is  an  heir  of  hell,  and  fellow- 
heir  with  reprobates  and  fiends  to  interminable 
woe.  Seasons  of  tribulation  and  darkness  the 
righteous  may  endure  ;  yet  do  they  enjoy  that  ani- 
mating hope,  those  blissful  communications  of  the 
divine  favor,  and  that  sweet  foretaste  of  the  celes- 
tial banquet  which  makes  this  vale  of  teal's  a 
mount  of  rejoicing ;  and  notwithstanding  their  se- 
curity and  cheerfulness,  the  ungodly  suffer  that, 
consciousness  of  guilt  that  spoils  their  mirth  and 
embitters  their  joys.  Covered  with  the  banner 
of  mercy,  compassed  about  with  favor  as  a  shield, 
the    Christian   passes  through  the  wilderness  in 


THE   FIRST   ACT   OF   DISCRIMINATING   GRACE.        39 

safety  and  in  peace ;  and  though  he  may  sometimes 
pass  away  under  the  cloud,  he  more  usually  enters 
the  dark  valley  in  all  the  sweetness  of  resignation, 
the  serenity  of  hope,  and  the  triumphs  of  faith. 
While  alas  !  unprotected,  uncovered  and  unclothed 
upon,  the  sinner  passes  through  the  wilderness  de- 
void of  consolation  and  without  a  refuge,  and  at 
the  close  of  his  guilty  career,  without  a  smile  from 
the  face  of  Jesus,  is  forced  away  in  all  the  bitter- 
ness of  grief,  and  agonies  of  despair. 

If  we  lift  the  veil  and  follow  them  still  farther, 
we  find  that  the  difference  that  began  in  the  pres- 
ent world  is  augmented  and  becomes  eternal.  Re- 
leased  from  the  fetters  that  fastened  him  to  earth, 
the  Christian  wings  his  upward  flight  to  the  man- 
sions of  light  and  joy ;  while  the  sinner  as  rapidly 
descends  the  gloomy  vale  of  darkness  and  woe. 
The  Christian  rises  to  that  brightness,  that  splen- 
dor of  moral  purity  that  augments  the  lustre  of 
heaven ;  while  the  sinner  plunges  in  that  blackness 
of  moral  pollution  that  adds  obscurity  to  the 
gloom  of  the  pit.  The  Christian  rejoices  ;  the  sin- 
ner mourns.  The  former  beholds  the  face  of  his 
Redeemer ;  sees  adoring  hosts  cast  their  crowns 
at  his  feet ;  and  as  he  listens,  swells  their  song ; 
while  the  latter  listens  only  to  wail  and  gnash  his 
teeth,  and  add  a  deeper  groan  to  the  sighs  that 
echo  through  the  caverns  of  despair. 

"  He  that  is  holy,  shall  be  holy  still ;  and  he 


40       THE  FIRST  ACT  OF  DISCRIMINATING  GRACE. 

that  is  filthy  shall  be  filthy  still."  They  differ 
both  in  character  and  state,  throughout  intermi- 
nable ages,  and  to  an  extent  which  surpasses  the 
largest  stretch  of  thought.  Not  until  death  draws 
aside  the  curtain,  can  we  form  any  adequate  con- 
ception of  the  difference  between  the  righteous 
and  the  wicked.  One  glance  at  the  glories  of 
heaven,  one  at  everlasting  burnings,  will  show 
more  than  ten  thousand  volumes  wherein  the 
righteous  and  the  wicked  differ. 

So  great  is  this  difference,  that  it  becomes  the 
subject  of  interesting  inquiry.  Who  makes  it  ? 
There  is  some  cause  for  this  great  diversity  of 
character  and  condition.  It  is  either  self-produced, 
or  produced  by  some  extraneous  agency.  If  by 
extraneous  agency,  what  is  that  agency  ?  This  is 
a  theological  as  well  as  a  practical  question  ;  and 
it  is  one  in  which  there  is  some  discordance  of 
human  opinions. 

It  is  sometimes  said  that  the  difference  is  owing 
to  the  intrinsic  efficacy  of  truth.  The  human  mind 
is  supposed  to  be  so  constituted,  that  when  once  it 
sees  the  truth  as  it  is,  even  though  it  does  not  dis- 
cover its  moral  beauty,  it  yields  to  its  appropriate 
influence.  There  are  so  many  powerful  motives 
suggested  by  it  to  induce  men  to  become  holy, 
that  when  clearly  and  forcibly  exhibited,  the  truth 
itself  is  supposed  to  cause  all  the  difference  of 
moral  character  throughout  the  world.     But  the 


THE  FIRST  ACT  OF  DISCRIMINATING  GRACE.       41 

very  opposite  of  this  supposition  is  the  one  main- 
tained in  the  Bible,  and  confirmed  by  experience. 
Instead  of  yielding  to  the  truth  of  God  when  it  is 
clearly  exhibited,  the  Scriptures  tell  us  that 
"  Light  is  come  into  the  world,  and  men  have  loved 
darkness  rather  than  light"  They  are  not  con- 
verted without  the  truth  ;  the  truth  of  God  is  the 
appointed  instrumentality  in  their  conversion.  Yet 
is  it  not  in  the  power  of  truth  to  control  the  de- 
praved heart.  If  it  were,  why  should  this  differ- 
ence of  character  remain  among  those  who  have 
the  same  religious  instruction,  and  enforced  with 
the  same  energy  ?  Why  are  not  the  same  motives 
at  all  times  equally  effectual  ?  Why  did  Moses 
and  the  prophets,  Christ  and  the  apostles,  ever 
preach  in  vain  ?  And  if  this  supposition  be  true, 
what  becomes  of  the  office-work  of  the  Holy 
Spirit,  of  which  so  much  is  said  in  the  sacred 
writings  ? 

Sometimes  it  is  affirmed  that  the  difference  is 
owing  to  the  superior  improvement  which  the 
righteous  make  of  their  religious  instruction  and 
privileges.  All,  it  is  asserted,  have  opportunities 
enough ;  and  by  a  due  improvement  of  them, 
there  would  be  no  essential  difference  of  character 
between  one  man  and  another.  This  is  true  ;  and 
the  wicked  are  without  excuse  for  not  improving 
their  religious  privileges.  But  this  does  not 
answer  our  question ;  because  it  fails  to  inform  us 


42       THE  FIRST  ACT  OF  DISCRIMINATING  GRACE. 

how  it  comes  to  pass  that  one  man  improves  his 
privileges,  and  another  does  not.  And  if  this  sup- 
position accounted  for  the  difference,  then  would 
it  be  exclusively  the  work  of  men,  and  the  crea- 
ture would  become  the  author  and  finisher  of  his 
own  salvation. 

For  the  purpose  of  avoiding  these  difficulties,  it 
has  been  said,  that  in  addition  to  the  power  of 
moral  suasion,  and  the  influence  of  religious  privi- 
leges, God  gives  his  Holy  Spirit  to  all  men,  and 
that  by  cherishing,  and  not  grieving  his  influences, 
some  gradually  become  Christians,  and  differ  from 
others.  According  to  this  theory,  the  difference 
between  the  righteous  and  the  wicked,  is  not  made 
by  an  act  of  discriminating  grace,  but  by  a  wise 
improvement  of  grace  indiscriminately  communi- 
cated. This  view  of  the  subject  is  equally  far  from 
accounting  for  the  difference  ;  because  it  does  not 
inform  us  why  one  man  cherishes,  and  another 
grieves  the  Spirit  of  God.  Still  the  question  is 
unanswered,  Who  maketh  them  to  differ  t 

To  obviate,  as  is  supposed,  this  difficulty,  it  is 
said,  some  choose  to  improve,  and  cherish,  and  obey 
the  divine  influence,  and  others  do  not.  We  know 
this  :  all  men  act  freely  in  this  matter.  But  why 
do  some  choose,  and  others  refuse  ?  The  will  is 
not  the  sovereign  arbiter  of  its  own  acts  ;  the  will 
does  not  produce  the  will.  There  is  no  greater 
absurdity,  than  that  every  volition  of  the  human 


THE  FIRST   ACT   OF  DISCRIMINATING   GRACE.        43 

mind  is  the  effect  of  a  previous  volition.  If  so, 
what  is  the  cause  of  this  previous  volition  ?  If  one 
still  previous,  how  came  the  parent  volition  into 
existence,  and  whence  the  first  in  the  series  ? 

How  then  does  it  happen  that  some  are  holy, 
and  others  sinful  ? — that  some  choose  to  love  God, 
and  others  to  hate  him  ? — that  some  choose  life, 
and  others  death  ?  Who  makes  this  wide  and 
eternal  difference  ?  In  answering  this  question, 
we  turn  to  the  Bible,  and  abide  the  decisions  of 
the  law  and  the  testimony.  This  Book  of  God 
teaches  us  that  the  righteous  and  the  wicked  pos- 
sess by  nature  the  same  character,  and  are  in  the 
same  state.  They  are  totally  destitute  of  true 
love  to  God,  and  under  the  entire  dominion  of  a 
depraved  heart.  And  in  this  sinful  and  guilty 
state  they  continue  until  the  one  is  convinced-  of 
his  sins,  renounces  his  enmity  to  God,  and  exer- 
cises a  saving  faith  in  the  Lord  Jesus.  From  this 
period  in  their  history,  the  lines  of  their  moral 
character  perpetually  diverge.  The  one  is  a 
changed  man ;  he  is  turned  from  sin  to  holiness, 
and  from  the  power  of  Satan  unto  God  ;  while  the 
other  is  left  to  live  and  die  in  his  iniquity.  The 
entire  difference  between  them,  therefore,  is  to  be 
attributed  to  the  discriminating  grace  of  God  to- 
ward tlie  righteous.  The  righteous  are  taken,  and 
the  wicked  are  left.  The  righteous  are  renewed 
and  sanctified,  and  the  wicked  are  left  to  them- 


44       THE  FIRST  ACT  OF  DISCRIMINATING  GRACE. 

selves.  It  is  not  necessary  that  anything  more  be 
done  than  thus  leave  them. 

This  scriptural  statement  accounts  for  the 
difference  between  them.  It  originates  in  the 
Great  First  Cause.  We  trace  the  streams  of 
mercy  up  to  the  fountain-head,  and  see  them  issu- 
ing from  that  eternal,  immutable  purpose  which 
took  its  rise  from  the  fulness  of  the  divine  mind, 
and  the  overflowings  of  those  god-like  compassions 
which  could  not  be  gratified  without  saving  a  por- 
tion of  our  fallen  race  ;  while  the  fountain  of 
wickedness  in  the  unrenewed  heart  is  left  to  flow 
on.  To  the  righteous,  God  gives  his  Holy  Spirit, 
effectually  calling  them ;  to  the  wicked  he  does 
not  give  it.  Time  and  opportunity  are  all  the 
wicked  want  in  order  to  fill  up  the  measure  of  their 
iniquity,  and  become  ripe  for  destruction.  Were 
there  any  holiness  in  their  hearts,  time  and  oppor- 
tunity might  improve  it.  But  there  is  none  ;  and 
with  such  a  heart,  they  are  sure  to  grow  worse 
rather  than  better.  Let  them  enjoy  what  religious 
opportunities  they  will,  they  are  sure  to  pervert 
and  abuse  them,  and  make  them  the  means  of  sin. 
The  longer  they  live,  the  more  sinful  they  grow, 
and  the  more  aggravated  their  sinfulness.  Time, 
talents,  health,  Sabbaths,  prosperity  and  adversity, 
perverted  and  abused,  are  all  the  means  of  their 
increasing  in  sin. 

If  we  ask  for  evidence  of  this,  we  have  but  to 


THE  FIRST  ACT  OF  DISCRIMINATING  GRACE.       45 

open  the  Bible  and  read  such  declarations  as 
these : — "  The  preparation  of  the  heart  in  man  u 
from  the  Lord.  By  grace  are  ye  saved,  through 
faith,  and  that  not  of  yourselves,  it  is  the  gift  of 
God.  It  is  God  that  worheth  in  you  both  to  will 
and  to  do  of  his  good  pleasure.  He  that  hath 
wrought  us  for  the  self-same  thing,  is  God.  We 
are  his  worhmanship,  created  in  Christ  Jesus. 
No  man  can  come  unto  me,  except  it  were  given 
him  of  my  Father.  The  difference  is  made  by- 
God  in  opposition  to  every  other  way  of  making 
it,  and  his  giving  that  to  the  righteous  which  he 
does  not  give  to  the  wicked.  As  though  the  Holy 
Spirit  meant  to  exclude  everything  from  the  con- 
version of  sinners  as  its  efficient  cause,  except  the 
immediate  power  of  God,  he  speaks  of  those  who 
had  received  Christ,  as  born,  not  of  blood,  nor  of 
the  will  of  the  flesh,  nor  of  the  will  of  man,  but  of 
God.  So  then,  it  is  not  of  him  that  tviUeth,  nor  of 
him  that  runneth,  but  of  God  that  shoiveth  mercy. 
The  difference,  therefore,  between  the  righteous 
and  the  wicked,  is  made  by  God.  By  him,  it  is 
begun ;  by  him,  it  is  continued ;  by  him,  it  is  per- 
fected. At  a  time  when  both  were  dead  in  tres- 
passes and  sins ;  when  both  were  enemies ;  when, 
through  their  own  obduracy,  the  instructions  and 
motives  of  divine  truth  served  only  to  rouse  and 
strengthen  their  opposition;  when  they  were 
equally  stout-hearted  and  far  from  righteousness ; 


46       THE   FIRST   ACT   OF   DISCRIMINATING   GRACE. 

God,  of  his  mere  good  pleasure,  uninduced  by 
anything  in  either,  and  alike  disregarded  by  both, 
made  some  to  differ  from  others  by  taking  the  hard 
and  stony  heart  out  of  their  flesh,  and  giving  them 
a  heart  of  flesh.  From  this  point,  their  character 
and  their  condition  diverge  to  all  eternity.  The 
righteous  had  been  just  like  the  wicked  if  God 
had  left  them  to  themselves.  Where  God  is 
"  willing  then  to  show  his  wrath,  and  make  his 
power  known,"  he  has  but  to  "  endure  with  much 
long-suffering  the  vessels  of  wrath  fitted  to  de- 
struction." The  righteous  are  "prepared  unto 
glory"  by  discriminating  grace ;  the  wicked  fitted 
to  destruction  by  the  divine  long-suffering,  and 
thus  becoming  their  own  destroyers.  Both  have 
been  partners  of  the  same  guilt ;  both  might  have 
been  condemned  with  equal  justice:  but  the  one 
is  taken  and  the  other  is  left. 

This  is  one  of  the  great  features  of  the  divine 
government;  it  is  the  royal  prerogative  of  his 
throne.  Every  glance  at  the  history  of  the  divine 
operations  discovers  the  hand  of  discriminating 
grace.  You  cannot  cast  your  eyes  over  the  world 
without  recognizing  God  as  a  holy  Sovereign. 
You  see  a  difference  between  the  angels  who  kept 
their  first  estate  and  those  who  did  not  keep  it ; 
between  Cain  and  Abel ;  between  Noah  and  the 
antediluvian  world;  between  Abraham  and  the 
idolatrous  nations  around  him ;   between  Lot  and 


THE  FIRST  ACT  OF  DISCRIMINATING  GRACE,       47 

Sodom,  and  between  Jacob  and  Esau:   and  the 
difference  was   made    by  God.     As   yon  extend 
your  views,  you  see  one  age  and  clime  differing 
from  another.     One  is  an  age  of  darkness  and  sin 
another  the  age  of  light  and  purity ;  and  the  dif- 
ference is  made  by  God.     One  land  is  favored 
with  plentiful  effusions  of  the  divine  Spirit;,  an- 
other is  like  the  barren  heath.     One  minister  la- 
bors and  has  little  else  to  do  than  stand  still  and 
see  the  salvation  of  God ;  while  another  labors  in 
vain,  and  spends  his  strength  for  naught  and  m 
vain      So  that  wherever  you  look,  you  see  the 
sovereign  Arbiter  of  all  events  and  all  worlds 
himself  drawing  the  line  between  the  righteous 
and  the  wicked,  bringing  to  the  view  of  men  his 
own  supremacy,  and  magnifying  his  own  "most 
holy,  wise  and  powerful  ordering  and  governing 
all  his  creatures  and  all  their  actions." 

How  amiable,  how  awful  this  exhibition  of  God  s 
holy  sovereignty  !  In  what  strong  and  bright  col- 
ors it  shines,  and  how  will  it  be  felt  through  inter- 
minable ages,  in  making  some  the  monuments  of 
mercy,  and  leaving  others  to  hardness  of  heart ! 
As  the  saints  rise  in  glory  and  blessedness,  with 
what  a  deep  conviction  of  the  sovereignty  of  God 
will  they  look  down  upon  the  regions  of  darkness, 
and  feel  that  it  is  God  who  made  them  to  differ ! 
Throughout  all  eternity,  it  will  be  seen  and  felt, 
that  the  wide,  the  augmenting  difference  is  made 


48       THE  FIRST  ACT  OF  DISCRIMINATING  GRACE. 

by  God.  We  have  but  to  look  forward  to  the 
end  of  time,  when  the  light  dawns,  and  the  heav- 
ens open,  and  the  multitude  which  no  man  can 
number  are  casting  their  crowns  before  the  throne ; 
and  then  to  look  down  upon  that  dark  and  dismal 
world,  from  which  the  smoke  of  the  torments  of 
the  damned  is  ascending  forever  and  ever;  to 
learn  how  wondrous  the  grace  that  makes  the 
righteous  differ  from  the  wicked. 

This  is  a  most  important  truth  ;  it  is  a  most  ef- 
fective truth,  because  it  throws  all  impenitent  7nen 
into  the  hands  of  God.  They  are  dead  in  trespasses 
and  sins.  If  ever  they  are  made  to  differ  from 
what  they  now  are,  and  from  a  world  that  lieth  in 
wickedness,  it  will  be  an  act  of  mere  grace — dis- 
criminating grace.  Their  dependence  does  not  di- 
minish their  obligations ;  for  in  all  their  moral  con- 
duct, they  act  for  themselves,  and  without  con- 
straint. Yet  such  is  their  character,  that  all  means, 
all  motives,  without  this  special,  almighty,  and  sov- 
ereign influence,  will  leave  them  hardened  in  sin. 
Nothing  can  convert  them,  but  the  power  of  God. 
They  will  not  be  taught  into  religion ;  nor  terri- 
fied into  it ;  nor  encouraged  and  soothed  and  flat- 
tered into  it.  Their  dearest  interests  for  time  and 
eternity  are  suspended  on  God's  sovereign  will. 
Everything  within  them,  and  everything  without 
them  serves  only  to  throw  them  into  the  hands  of 
God.     And  if  they  complain  of  this,  and  murmur 


THE  FIRST  ACT  OF   DISCRIMINATING   GRACE.       49 

at  dependence  so  absolute,  we  can  only  say,  let 
them  do  without  the  grace  of  God  if  they  can. 
Let  them  throw  themselves  upon  their  own  re- 
sources, influence  their  own  choice,  change  their 
own  heart,  and  become  converted  men  without 
the  interposition  of  God's  special  grace,  if  in  their 
own  judgment,  they  think  they  can  do  so.  But 
if  they  despair  of  this,  then  we  say  to  them,  Do 
not  quarrel  with  your  own  mercies,  and  complain 
of  that  which  is  your  only  hope.  Take  heed  how 
you  contend  with  God  in  this  matter.  It  may  be 
that  you  are  secretly  saying,  with  sinners  of  other 
times,  "  Why  doth  he  yet  find  fault  ?  for  ivho  hath 
resisted  his  will  f "  "  Nay,  but  O  man !  who  art 
thou  that  repliest  against  God?  Hath  not  the 
potter  power  over  the  clay  of  the  same  lump,  to 
make  one  vessel  unto  honoi*  and  another  unto  dis- 
honor f "  If  wicked  men  truly  saw  and  felt  their 
condition  as  it  is,  they  would  have  no  hope  of 
salvation  but  from  that  very  sovereignty  they  now 
oppose.  Here  you  are  a  dying  man,  in  the  hands 
of  that  God  whose  forbearance  you  have  so  long 
provoked,  and  beyond  the  reach  of  help  on  this 
side  heaven.  Ministers  can  preach  to  you  ;  they 
can  pray  for  you ;  they  can  follow  you  with  their 
entreaties  to  your  graves ;  but  if  God  does  not  lift 
you  from  the  pit,  in  defiance  of  all  that  means  and 
men  can  do,  nothing  is  more  certain,  than  that  you 
will  choose  death  rather  than  life.    O  that  you  did 

VOL.  II. — 3 


50       THE  FIRST  ACT  OF  DISCRIMINATING   GRACE. 

indeed  feel  yourselves  cut  off  from  every  refuge 
and  hope  except  omnipotent  and  discriminating 
grace !  You  would  then  know  what  it  is  to  de- 
spair of  help  except  from  God ;  you  would  bow 
yourself  low  before  the  throne,  and  cry,  Lord! 
save,  or  I  perish. 

We  have  said,  that  this  is  an  important  and 
effective  truth,  because  we  see  not  where  else  to 
build  our  hopes  for  the  prosperity  of  Zion.  We 
rest  them  on  the  truth,  that  the  difference  be- 
tween the  righteous  and  the  wicked  is  made  by 
God.  This  is  the  only  hope  of  a  lost  world.  The 
work  is  God's.  This  is  the  only  and  last  resort. 
There  is  no  hope,  if  it  be  not  here.  It  is  upon  this 
rock  that  the  church  rests ;  and  by  this  she  will 
live  and  triumph,  and  the  gates  of  hell  shall  not 
prevail  against  her.  No  heart  is  so  hard,  that 
God  cannot  break  it ;  none  so  unyielding,  that  he 
cannot  make  it  bow.  No  sinner,  and  no  congre- 
gation of  sinners  is  beyond  the  reach  of  sovereign 
grace.  We  magnify  this  blessed  truth,  though  it 
is  a  stumbling-block  and  foolishness  to  the  world. 
God  has  the  hearts  of  all  in  his  hands.  As  the 
rivulets  of  water  are  turned,  he  turneth  them 
whithersoever  he  will.  We  cast  the  souls  of  dy- 
ing men  on  this  his  immeasurable  and  sovereign 
grace.  When  ministers  have  instructed,  and  ad- 
monished, and  entreated  them,  and  prayed  for 
them,  their  last  resort  is  to  leave  them  with  God. 


THE  FIRST  ACT   OF   DISCRIMINATING   GRACE.        51 

Thrice  blessed  encouragement !  When  iniquity 
abounds,  and  the  love  of  many  waxes  cold  ;  when 
under  a  clear  and  affecting  impression  of  the  de- 
plorable state  of  perishing  sinners,  and  a  hum- 
bling consciousness  of  our  own  uufruitfulness ; 
there  is  encouragement  in  casting  the  burden  on 
him  who  has  never  said  to  the  seed  of  Jacob,  Seek 
ye  my  face  in  vain!  My  soul!  wait  thou  only 
upon  God  ;  for  my  expectation  is  from  him  ! 

Observe  and  mark  the  indications  of  God's  dis- 
criminating grace  in  the  world  in  which  we  dwell. 
Has  he  not  been  in  the  midst  of  it,  making  some 
differ  from  others  ?  Has  he  not  bowed  his  heav- 
ens and  come  down,  and  called  some  to  the  knowl- 
edge of  his  dear  Son,  and  left  others  to  reject  the 
offers  of  his  mercy?  Has  not  his  discriminating 
arm  been  made  bare  throughout  the  land,  in  these 
churches,  and  in  the  midst  of  these  families,  and 
made  some  rejoice,  and  left  others  to  mourn  ?  Is 
he  not  now  plucking  some  as  brands  from  the 
burning,  and  leaving  others  to  lie  down  in  sorrow  ? 
And  will  he  not  continue  thus  to  manifest  his  sove- 
reignty and  make  it  felt  forever,  himself  drawing 
the  line  between  pagan  and  Christian  lands,  be- 
tween the  husband  and  the  wife,  the  father  and 
the  son,  the  mother  and  her  daughter,  the  brother 
and  the  brother !  Solemn,  unspeakably  solemn 
thought !  "His  fan  is  in  his  hand,  and  he  will 
thoroughly  purge  his  floor,  and  gather  the  wheat 


52       THE  FIRST  ACT  OF  DISCRIMINATING  GRACE. 

into  his  garner,  and  hum  up  the  chaff  with  un- 
quenchable fire!11  The  cords  of  earthly  affection 
bind  men  together  for  a  little  while ;  these  frail 
bodies  will  indeed  lie  down  alike  in  the  grave, 
and  the  worms  will  cover  them ;  but  the  final  sep- 
aration hastens  on.  Few  are  the  years  ere  the 
judge  on  his  throne  shall  separate  them  one  from 
another,  as  a  shepherd  divideth  his  sheep  from  the 
goats.  And  then — O  the  stupendous  difference  ! 
The  awful  gulf  will  roll,  while  on  its  rapid  tide 
some  ascend,  no  more  to  look  down,  but  to  re- 
member who  made  them  to  differ  ;  and  others  de- 
scend, no  more  to  look  up,  but  to  remember  that 
the  difference  remains. 

We  speak  for  God,  we  plead  for  God,  when  we 
utter  our  thoughts  on  such  a  theme.  We  say  to 
all  men,  "  Give  glory  to  the  Lord  your  God  before 
your  feet  stumble  upon  the  dark  mountains."  To 
Christian  men  we  say,  give  all  the  glory  of  your 
salvation  to  him  to  whom  it  belongs.  You  see 
who  hath  made  you  to  differ  from  all  his  incorri- 
gible enemies.  You  look  back  to  the  ages  of 
eternity,  and  see  to  what  you  owe  your  hopes. 
You  come  down  to  the  ages  of  time,  and  see  every 
part  of  your  salvation  pointing  to  the  agency  of 
the  king  eternal,  immortal  and  invisible.  You 
look  around  you,  and  you  look  forward,  and  see 
how  he  that  begun  the  good  work  in  you  will 
carry  it  on  to  the  day  of  Jesus  Christ.     God  and 


THE  FIRST  ACT  OF  DISCRIMINATING  GRACE       53 

his  eternal,  ever-enduring  grace  are  the  moving 
cause  of  the  whole.  Surely  shall  one  say,  in  the 
Lord  ham  I  righteousness  and  strength,  In  the 
Lord  shall  all  the  seed  of  Israel  be  justified,  and 
shall  glory  !  He  was  under  no  obligation  to  have 
mercy  upon  you,  more  than  upon  the  rebel  angels, 
or  upon  the  thousands  of  your  fellow-men,  who 
are  without  God  in  the  world.  Well  may  you 
say,  "  By  the  grace  of  God,  I  am  what  I  am  ! 
Not  unto  me,  not  unto  me,  0  Lord!  but  to  thy  name 
give  glory,  for  thy  mercy  and  thy  truths  sake ! 
Your  best  honors  be  to  his  name  !  Let  his  glory 
be  the  animating  theme.  The  spiritual  temple 
rests  on  him.  Built  on  his  grace,  it  has  risen  ;  it 
rises  now ;  and  it  shall  rise ;  while  every  arch  is 
vocal  with  the  song,  "  Worthy  is  the  Lamb  that 
was  slain  /" 


CHAPTER    XVI. 
€\i  /irst   f&utttl 

The  first  promise  involved  a  threatening.  It 
predicted  the  overthrow  of  the  seed  of  the  ser- 
pent, and  the  conquests  of  the  seed  of  the  woman. 
"  I  will  put  enmity  between  thee  and  the  woman ; 
it  shall  bruise  thy  head,  and  thou  shalt  bruise  his 
heel."  There  was  to  be  a  conflict,  a  quarrel  to  the 
death  between  these  two  seeds.  A  judicious  com- 
mentator remarks  that  this  single  declaration 
"  stands  and  will  stand  to  the  end  of  time,  an  eter- 
nal demonstration  that  the  Scripture  was  given  by 
inspiration  from  God ;"  and  because  "  it  unfolds 
the  whole  history  of  the  church  and  the  world, 
through  time  and  to  eternity."  These  two  fami- 
lies ever  have  been,  and  ever  will  be  thus  set  in 
battle  array,  and  striving  for  the  mastery. 

It  is  interesting  to  us  to  know  how  this  contro- 
versy began.  Melancholy  to  relate,  it  began  in 
the  immediate  family  of  our  first  parents  ;  between 
the  first-born  sons  of  the  first  man  and  the  first 


THE   FIRST   QUARREL.  55 

woman.  It  was  a  religious  quarrel,  and  arose 
from  the  facts  detailed  in  our  last  two  chapters 
Abel,  the  younger  of  the  two,  was  a  pious  man. 
Cain  was  a  deist ;  and  so  irritated  was  he  at  the 
respect  which  God  paid  to  Abel's  offering,  and  at 
the  rejection  of  his  own,  that  nothing  could  ap- 
pease his  anger  until  he  had  imbrued  his  hands  in 
his  brother's  blood. 

Thus  early  did  the  direful  effects  of  the  first 
apostasy  show  themselves ;  and  so  tremendous 
were  they,  that  the  first  descendant  of  these  guilty 
parents  was  a  murderer  and  a  fratricide.  Wicked- 
ness is  in  its  nature  malignant ;  it  sleeps  no  longer 
than  its  exciting  causes  sleep ;  it  needs  but  to  be 
provoked  in  order  to  be  the  lapper  of  blood.  Cain 
was  not  worse  by  nature  than  other  men.  Like  all 
other  men  until  they  are  renewed  by  grace,  he  had 
no  delight  in  truth  and  holiness.  He  loved  dark- 
ness rather  than  light,  because  his  deeds  were  evil. 
The  carnal  mind  is  not  only  enmity  against  God, 
but  enmity  against  man.  "  He  that  saith,  I  love 
God,  and  hateth  his  brother,  is  a  liar ;  for  he  that 
loveth  not  his  brother  whom  he  hath  seen,  how 
can  he  love  God  whom  he  hath  not  seen  ?"  Not 
more  certainly  is  love  "  the  fruit  of  the  Spirit"  and 
"  the  fulfilling  of  the  law,'1  than  all  unkindness  and 
hatred  to  man  is  the  fruit  of  that  mother  monster, 
enmity  to  God.  The  Apostle  Paul,  in  describing 
the  character  of  wicked  men,  affirms,  that  they  are 


56  THE  FIRST  QUARREL. 

"  filled  with  all  maliciousness" — "  full  of  envy,  mur- 
der, debate,  malignity," — "backbiters,  despiteful, 
implacable,  unmerciful."  Nor  is  there  anything 
that  more  certainly  or  more  universally  excites 
this  malignant  spirit  than  the  truth  of  God.  It 
required  great  obduracy  on  the  part  of  Cain  to 
resist  the  appeal  which  God  made  to  him  in  regard 
to  the  unacceptableness  of  his  sacrifice  ;  but  he  did 
resist  it  unto  blood.  He  felt  the  reproach  most 
keenly  when  he  learned  that  Abel's  sacrifice  was 
accepted,  and  that  his  own  was  a  vain  oblation ; 
it  made  him  angry  with  God  and  angry  with 
his  brother.  We  repeat  the  observation,  it  was, 
throughout,  a  religious  controversy.  And  we  are 
confirmed  in  the  truth  of  this  remark  by  the  teach- 
ing of  the  Apostle  John,  where  he  speaks  of  this 
very  subject  in  the  following  language :  "  For  this 
is  the  message  that  ye  have  heard  from  the  begin- 
ning, that  we  should  love  one  another.  Not  as  Cain, 
who  was  of  that  wicked  one,  and  slew  his  brother. 
And  wherefore  slew  he  him  ?  Because  his  own 
tcorhs  were  evil,  and  his  brother fs  righteous? 

Though  the  first  religious  controversy  in  the 
world,  this  was  by  no  means  the  last.  For  six 
thousand  years  this  controversy  has  been  going  on, 
and  exists  in  violence  at  the  present  time.  Even 
now  the  great  moral  question  is  being  agitated, 
which  decides  the  interests  of  three  worlds,  and 
which  involves  the  character  and  destiny  of  all  the 


THE  FIRST  QUARREL.  57 

generations  of  men  even  to  the  last  judgment,  and 
onward  through  interminable  ages.  It  may  be 
that  the  reader  and  the  writer  have  a  deeper  in- 
terest in  it  than  at  first  view  is  presented  to  their 
thoughts.  The  first  outbreak  began  on  the  part 
of  Satan  in  the  garden ;  the  next  onslaught  was 
on  the  part  of  Cain  ;  and  the  battle  is  now  going 
on  in  different  forms  throughout  the  earth. 

The  PARTIES  in  this  controversy  comprise  the 
whole  intelligent  universe.  They  are  composed  of 
the  hingdom  of  light  and  the  hingdom  of  darkness  ; 
the  hingdom  of  holiness  and  the  hingdom  of  sin, 
wherever  extended,  by  whoever  upheld,  and  what- 
ever may  be  their  conquests.  On  one  side  are  all 
godly  men  on  the  earth.  By  whatever  name  they 
are  called,  wherever  born  and  dispersed,  and  by 
whatever  peculiarities  their  moral  training  is  dis- 
tinguished,— these  all  belong  to  the  same  kingdom, 
espouse  the  same  cause,  and  are  clothed  with  the 
same  divine  panoply.  Be  they  who  they  may, 
that  possess  the  faith  and  the  works  of  right- 
eous Abel,  and  are  baptized  into  his  spirit,  they 
are  all  banded  together  by  the  same  sacramental 
pledge,  and  intent  on  the  same  glorious  conquests. 
They  consist  of  individual  men,  of  churches,  of 
extended  and  combined  families  of  churches,  and 
of  different  ecclesiastical  families,  each  under  its 
own  standard,  and  all  under  the  standard  of  the 
cross.     They  are  the  disciples  of  Christ,  the  com- 

3* 


58  THE  FIRST   QUARREL. 

pact  and  embodied  forms  of  a  Protestant  and  spir- 
itual Christianity.  With  these  are  combined  all 
the  saints  in  heaven.  From  Abel  down  to  the  last 
spirit  that  was  borne  by  angels  to  Abraham's  bo- 
som, patriarchs  and  prophets,  apostles  and  martyrs, 
godly  men  and  godly  women  of  every  age  belong 
to  some  of  the  detachments  of  this  great  army. 
Though  gone  from  earth  to  heaven,  and  separated 
from  these  scenes  of  sense,  they  have  lost  none  of 
their  interest  in  the  conflict,  but  the  rather  has  it 
become  the  more  invigorated  and  intense,  as  they 
see  it  the  more  widely  extended,  and  witness  the 
zeal  and  ardor  with  which  it  is  prosecuted  in  other 
worlds.  There  is  no  disunion  of  feeling  or  effort 
between  the  saints  on  earth  and  the  general  as- 
sembly and  church  of  the  First  Born,  in  heaven. 
In  league  with  these,  are  those  angelic  spirits  who 
maintained  their  primeval  integrity.  These  form 
an  innumerable  company,  who  have  ever  been 
among  the  foremost  in  the  war.  They  are  swift 
to  do  the  will  of  their  Leader,  hearkening  to  the 
voice  of  his  word  ;  and  ever  ready  alike  on  mis- 
sions of  assault  or  resistance.  Sometimes  they  are 
sent  forth  on  errands  of  judgment,  and  execute 
their  commission  to  the  terror  of  men  ;  but  more 
often  on  errands  of  mercy,  sent  forth  to  minister 
to  them  that  shall  be  heirs  of  salvation.  Endowed 
with  the  noblest  created  faculties — with  wonderful 
power  and  activity — with  unfading  and  immortal 


THE  FIRST   QUARREL.  59 

youth,  and  with  consummate  holiness,  all  these  are 
fellow-combatants  with  saints  on  earth  and  saints 
in  heaven ; — the  partakers  of  their  grief  and  help- 
ers of  their  joy.  Often  do  they  tempt  their  flight 
down  to  this  lower  world  ;  often  fill  the  towers  of 
heaven ;  and 

" Oft  on  the  bordering  deep 


Encamp  their  legions," 

everywhere  watching  the  progress  of  the  enemy, 
and  ever  prompt  and  faithful. 

At  the  head  of  all  these  forces  is  Christ  the  Son 
of  God,  and  against  whom  the  Foe  is  so  embittered 
with  rage.  Of  all  the  kings  of  the  earth,  he  him- 
self is  the  Prince,  having  on  his  vesture  and  on 
his  thigh  a  name  written,  King  of  kings,  and 
Lord  of  lords.  He  is  the  Lord  of  angels  and 
men;  the  Alpha  and  the  Omega,  the  beginning 
and  the  end,  which  is,  and  which  was,  and  which 
is  to  come,  the  Almighty.  "In  his  right  hand 
are  seven  stars ;  out  of  his  mouth  goes  a  two-edged 
sword ;  and  his  countenance  is  as  the  sun  shining 
in  his  strength."  He  "hath  the  keys  of  death 
and  of  hell,  and  openeth,  and  no  man  shutteth, 
and  shutteth,  and  no  man  openeth." 

In  this  great  warfare  are  enlisted  all  his  wis- 
dom, power,  righteousness  and  love ;  and  with  its 
triumphs  is  identified  the  honor  of  his  name  and 
cross.  God  the  Father  is  also  identified  with  him ; 
engaged  in  the  same  struggling  cause,  and  pledg- 


60  THE  FIRST  QUARREL. 

ing  to  it  all  his  godlike  attributes.  With  him  also 
dwells  the  Holy  Spirit  without  measure.  His  it 
is  to  instruct,  convince,  and  reclaim  the  foe ;  and 
when  converted  and  reclaimed,  to  build  them  up 
in  holiness  and  comfort.  His  it  is  to  overshadow 
with  his  celestial  influence  and  presence  this  sacra- 
mental host,  and  guide  and  help  them,  and  be 
their  light  and  glory,  their  defence  and  shield. 
These  form  one  division  of  this  great  army — one 
unbroken  phalanx,  one  of  the  mighty  parties  in 
this  momentous  contest. 

On  the  other  side,  are  all  the  wicked,  wherever 
they  are  found,  and  in  whatever  world.  They 
are  wicked  men  on  the  earth,  whose  minds  are  all 
at  enmity  with  God ;  and  who,  with  all  the  inci- 
dental variety  of  their  character,  in  this  respect 
agree.  Whether  moral  or  immoral,  whether  en- 
lightened or  ignorant,  whether  evangelical  or  he- 
retical in  their  creed,  whether  cautious  or  incau- 
tious, whether  exact  in  the  forms  of  devotion  or 
negligent,  whether  in  the  church  or  out  of  it,  all 
over  the  world  they  have  essentially  the  same 
spirit,  and  by  their  example  and  influence,  by 
their  rank,  power  and  authority,  are  engaged  in 
maintaining  the  same  disastrous  cause.  The  infi- 
del, the  scoffer,  and  the  sensualist,  the  profane  and 
the  vicious  of  every  description,  disgorge  their 
thousands  upon  this  field  of  battle.  Here  are  the 
worldly,  the  self-righteous,  and  the  self-hardened ; 


THE  FIRST   QUARREL.  61 

and  here  are  the  thoughtless  and  secure.  Here  are 
assembled  whole  nations,  with  kings,  and  despots, 
and  princes  and  the  nobles  of  the  earth.  Here  is 
every  false  system  of  religion,  including  the  mil- 
lions involved  in  heathenish  darkness,  and  millions 
more  that  are  involved  in  Mohammedan  delusion, 
Papal  apostasy,  and  Jewish  unbelief.  Confederate 
with  these,  are  the  departed  spirits  of  all  who 
have  died  in  their  sins.  Though  inhabiting  an- 
other and  invisible  world,  their  character  is  not 
altered;  they  all  belong  to  the  same  benighted 
and  polluted  empire.  So  far  from  having  suffered 
any  diminution  in  their  zeal,  from  this  exchange 
of  worlds,  they  have  enlisted  in  the  conflict  afresh ; 
have  thrown  off  all  disguise,  and  sworn  eternal 
fidelity  to  the  kingdom  of  unrighteousness,  and 
eternal  opposition  to  the  kingdom  of  God.  In 
the  same  guilty  alliance  are  the  fallen  angels; 
they,  too,  are  consociate  with  wicked  men,  both 
living  and  dead.  Once  they  were  holy ;  but  they 
rebelled  against  their  rightful  Prince,  and  were 
delivered  into  chains  of  darkness,  to  be  reserved 
unto  judgment.  They  are  beings  of  superior  power 
and  intelligence,  but  of  perfectly  malevolent  char- 
acter ;  but  for  wise  reasons,  God  permits  them  to  ex- 
ert a  powerful  influence  in  this  lower  world.  From 
time  to  time,  he  unbinds  their  chains,  and  allows 
them  to  go  abroad  among  the  sons  of  men,  tempt- 
ing the  good,  blinding  the  minds  of  them  that 


62  THE   FIRST   QUARREL. 

believe  not,  and  so  influencing  their  thoughts  and 
their  actions,  as  to  seduce  and  destroy.  Some- 
times they  appear  as  angels  of  light,  and  at  others 
they  throw  off  the  mask,  seeking  whom  they  may 
devour.  Their  name  is  legion.  Stirred  up  with 
envy  and  revenge,  trained  to  ruin,  and  expert  in 
deeds  of  wickedness,  they  omit  no  opportunity  of 
testifying  their  hatred  to  the  woman's  seed.  At 
the  head  of  these  puissant  legions  stands  Satan 
their  leader — the  old  Serpent  who  began  the  war 
— the  accuser  of  the  brethren — the  angel  of  the 
bottomless  pit — the  prince  of  devils,  and  the  god 
of  this  world,  going  to  and  fro  through  the  earth, 
and  walking  up  and  down  in  it,  to  lead  forth  the 
fallen  and  embattled  seraphim.  His  course  never 
has  been  doubtful,  marked  though  it  has  been 
with  deceit  and  treachery.  It  was  he  who  se- 
duced our  first  parents  to  that  "foul  revolt;"  it 
was  he  who  moved  David  to  the  sin  that  cut  off 
seventy  thousand  men  of  Israel  in  a  few  hours ;  it 
was  he  who  impudently  ventured  on  the  despe- 
rate enterprise  of  tempting  and  corrupting  even 
the  holy  Son  of  God.  And  it  is  he  who  is  still 
endeavoring  everywhere  to  spread  misery  and  de- 
struction through  the  earth,  rejoicing  in  nothing 
so  much  as  the  widest  scenes  of  devastation  and 
crime.  He  is  the  most  active  and  accomplished 
supporter  of  the  kingdom  of  darkness  ;  malignant, 
watchful,    crafty,   indefatigable,    laying   siege   to 


THE  FIRST   QUARREL.  63 

every  avenue  of  the  enemy's  camp,  disputing 
every  inch  of  ground,  and  maintaining  the  con- 
test with  absolute  desperation.  These  constitute 
the  other  division  in  this  fearful  conflict.  The 
same  spirit  pervades  the  whole,  whether  on  earth 
or  in  hell.     Such  are  the  parties  in  this  contest. 

The  controversy  itself  it  is  not  difficult  to  de- 
scribe. The  foundation  of  it  is  laid  in  the  essen- 
tial difference  of  character  between  the  contending 
parties.  Good  men  on  the  earth  and  in  heaven, 
unfallen  angels,  God  the  Father,  Son,  and  Holy 
Spirit,  all  possess  a  benevolent  and  holy  character. 
Bad  men  on  the  earth,  and  in  hell,  fallen  angels, 
Satan,  Beelzebub,  and  Moloch,  with  all  "their 
horrid  crew,"  have  not  one  benevolent  feeling,  not 
one  right  affection  of  heart.  The  character  of 
Abel  was  not  more  diverse  from  the  character  of 
Cain,  than  the  character  of  these  entire  classes. 
The  difference  between  them  is  not  a  difference  of 
circumstances,  but  a  radical  and  essential  differ- 
ence. Should  Satan  and  all  the  associates  of  his 
fall  conquer  and  subdue  the  Prince  of  Heaven  and 
his  devoted  followers,  the  change  in  their  condi- 
tion would  not  alter  their  respective  characters. 
Christ  and  his  people  would  be  still  the  same; 
and  the  devil  and  his  angels  would  be  still  the 
same.  No  change  of  place  from  hell  to  heaven 
would  induce  "  Satan  and  his  peers"  to  love  and 
praise  God  as  do  the  unfallen  and  redeemed ;  and 


64  THE  FIRST  QUARREL. 

no  change  of  place  from  heaven  to  hell  would  in- 
duce the  unfallen  and  redeemed  to  hate  and  blas- 
pheme God  as  do  the  devil  and  his  angels.  The 
character  of  the  parties  is  radically  diverse.  Their 
views,  designs,  and  desires  are  diametrically  oppo- 
site ;  and  so  long  as  there  is  this  irreconcilable  spirit 
between  them,  there  must  be  mutual  hostility. 
There  ever  has  been,  still  is,  and  always  will  be 
enmity  between  the  seed  of  the  woman  and  the 
seed  of  the  serpent.  If  we  trace  these  different 
seeds  in  their  dispersion  over  the  earth ;  if  we  ob- 
serve the  different  characteristics  of  the  different 
races  of  men,  from  the  posterity  of  Seth  on  the 
one'  hand,  and  the  posterity  of  all  the  other 
branches  of  Adam's  descendants ;  from  the  poster- 
ity of  Abraham,  Isaac,  and  Jacob  on  the  one 
hand,  and  the  posterity  of  Ishmael  and  Esau ;  we 
shall  find  the  same  strongly  marked  difference  of 
character.  It  is  the  world  and  the  church;  the 
spiritual  Babylon  and  the  New  Jerusalem. 

The  controversy  is  also  sustained  by  different 
and  opposing  interests.  Where  men  have  a  com- 
mon interest,  though  they  may  differ  in  character, 
their  interests  often  unite  and  bind  them  together. 
But  where,  in  addition  to  difference  of  character 
and  disposition,  there  are  differing  and  jarring 
interests,  it  is  impossible  there  should  be  harmony. 
So  it  is  with  the  parties  in  this  controversy. 
They  have  throughout,  jarring  and  opposing  in- 


THE  FIRST  QUARREL  65 

terests ;  selected  deliberately  and  upon  principle, 
and  pursued  with  uninterrupted  constancy  and 
perseverance.  The  one  is  contending  for  truth, 
the  other  for  error ;  the  one  for  holiness,  the  other 
for  sin ;  the  one  for  God,  and  his  cause,  the  other 
against  them ;  the  one  for  the  interests  of  the  di- 
vine law  and  government,  and  aiming  to  advance 
and  magnify  them  in  the  earth  ;  the  other  striving 
all  in  their  power  to  tarnish  their  purity,  detract 
from  their  influence,  and  prostrate  them  forever. 
The  one  is  contending  for  the  prerogative  of  God's 
eternal  providence,  and  desirous  that  in  all  things 
his  pleasure  should  be  accomplished ;  the  other  is 
warring  against  the  providence  of  God,  and  in- 
sisting that  his  ways  are  not  equal.  The  one  is 
contending  for  the  rights  of  conscience  ;  the  other 
would  bind  conscience  in  chains.  The  one  is  con- 
tending for  justice,  and  the  proper  punishment  of 
incorrigible  offenders  ;  the  other  for  the  privilege 
of  sinning  with  impunity.  The  one  gives  honor  to 
Jesus  Christ,  bows  the  knee  to  him,  and  if  they 
have  fallen,  accept  his  mercy,  confide  in  his  atone- 
ment, and  rejoice  in  his  salvation ;  the  other  re- 
ject and  despise  him,  tread  under  their  feet  the 
Son  of  God,  and  count  the  blood  of  his  covenant 
an  unholy  thing.  The  one  would  fain  publish  the 
gospel  of  the  Lord  Jesus  to  all  nations,  destroy 
every  false  system  of  religion  from  the  face  of  the 
earth,  and  turn  the  whole  world  to  the  service  and 


66  THE  FIRST  QUARREL. 

favor  of  the  only  true  God ;  while  the  other  is 
laboring  to  deceive  and  corrupt  the  nations,  and 
hold  men  everywhere  fast  in  the  bonds  of  iniquity 
and  death.  Such  are  their  different  and  opposing 
interests ;  interests  as  diverse  as  their  character, 
as  different  as  darkness  and  light — as  wide  apart 
as  they  can  be.  Just  as  the  one  prospers,  the 
other  declines ;  just  as  the  one  rises,  the  other  Mis. 
Hence  it  is  obviously  a  contest  for  ultimate 
dominion.  Each  party  has  a  different  king, — 
Christ  and  the  devil.  Each  has  a  different  em- 
pire. Each  is  governed  by  different  laws;  has 
different  objects,  and  is  engaged  in  different 
employments.  Jesus  Christ  and  his  devoted  fol- 
lowers are  intent  on  enlarging  and  extending  his 
empire,  increasing  his  subjects,  and  dethroning 
and  exterminating  his  and  their  enemies ;  while 
Satan  and  his  confederates  are  alike  intent  on  ex- 
tending the  boundaries  of  his  dark  dominion,  mul- 
tiplying his  guilty  subjects,  and  pushing  his  con- 
quests, 

" With  ambitious  aim, 

Against  the  throne  and  monarchy  of  God." 

The  controversy  is  deep,  and  earnest,  and  long 
continued.  The  one  will  not  yield;  the  other 
may  not.  On  the  part  of  God,  it  is  a  contest 
for  principle ;  it  is  a  contest  for  the  highest  in- 
terests of  the  universe  ;   it  is  a  contest   for   his 


THE   FIRST   QUARREL.  67 

glory,  and  his  name,  and  the  rights  and  stability 
of  his  throne,  and  he  must  maintain  it  to  the  last. 
Such  is  the  subject  matter  of  this  great  controversy. 

Nor  let  any  man  so  deceive  himself  as  to  be  per- 
suaded that  in  such  a  warfare  as  this,  he  can  main- 
tain, either  an  undesigned,  or  studied  neutrality. 
The  necessity  is  absolute  of  espousing  the  one  side 
or  the  other.  He  that  is  not  with  ?ne,  saith  the 
Saviour,  is  against  me.  Neutrality  is  as  impos- 
sible, as  it  is  that  a  portion  of  matter  should  be 
neither  at  rest,  nor  in  motion.  There  is  not  a 
human  being  who  does  not  either  approve,  or  dis- 
approve the  design  which  Christ  is  carrying  on  in 
the  world ;  who  does  not  either  fall  in  with  it,  or 
fall  out  with  it ;  who  does  not  at  heart  desire 
either  to  promote,  or  obstruct  its  progress ;  and 
whose  views,  and  feelings,  and  power  are  not  en- 
listed in  favor  of  one  or  other  of  these  contending 
parties.  The  controversy  is  of  such  a  kind  as 
deeply  to  affect  the  interests  of  the  intelligent  uni- 
verse ;  nor  is  it  possible  for  men  to  stand  by  and 
witness  it,  without  taking  sides.  Every  holy  heart 
is  on  the  side  of  Christ ;  every  unholy  heart  is  on 
the  side  of  the  adversary. 

It  is  absurd  to  suppose  that  any  man  should  feel 
indifferent  to  the  final  results  of  this  contest. 
Men  may  determine  to  act  a  neutral  part;  but 
there  is  nothing  in  which  they  are  more  decided. 
They  must  view  themselves,  and   be  viewed  by 


68  THE  FIRST  QUARREL. 

others,  either  on  the  Lord's  side,  or  on  the  side  of 
the  Foe.  There  the  all-searching  eye  of  God  sees 
them ;  there  they  will  be  found  when  they  come 
to  die ;  and  there  will  they  appear  throughout  eter- 
nity. On  which  side  is  the  reader  found  ?  Shut 
up  to  the  necessity  of  a  choice,  what  is  it,  and 
what  shall  it  be  ?  With  the  burden  of  this  election 
upon  him,  to  which  side  will  he  give  the  preference  ? 

In  considering  this  great  question,  let  him  con- 
sider the  character  of  the  contending  parties.  On 
one  side,  are  all  the  holy ;  on  the  other,  are  all  the 
unholy.  With  which  will  he  be  associated  ?  Is 
he  content  to  remain  confederate  with  the  enemies 
of  God  on  earth  and  in  hell — with  the  unbeliev- 
ing and  reprobate — with  the  vicious  and  the  profli- 
gate— with  the  devil  and  his  angels  ?  Will  he  be 
found  among  the  chaff  and  offscouring  of  God's 
creation,  or  its  joy  and  crown  ?  Will  he  consent 
to  be  the  slave  of  sin  and  death,  or  the  child 
of  God?  Which  is  the  more  creditable  to  his 
heart,  to  his  conscience,  to  his  intellect,  to  his  high 
ambition?  Which  is  the  "legion  of  honor?" 
"You  see  your  calling,  brethren" — a  high  and 
heavenly  calling,  and  one  that  associates  you  with 
all  that  is  high  and  honorable  in  the  universe. 

Consider  also  the  claims  of  truth  and  rectitude. 
The  cause  of  Christ,  and  angels,  and  saints  must  be 
a  holy  cause.  It  is  the  cause  of  truth  and  holiness, 
of  peace  and  joy,  against  the  machinations  of  error 


THE  FIRST  QUARREL  69 

and  sin,  and  the  wretched  and  miserable  conten- 
tions and  woes  which  have  torn  and  rent  the  uni- 
verse. It  is  the  cause  which  engages  the  first  love 
and  ardent  pursuit  of  every  virtuous  mind ;  the 
cause  for  which  God  created  and  governs  all 
things ;  the  cause  for  which  he  gave  his  Son  to 
die,  for  which  that  Son  descended  from  the  throne 
to  the  cross ;  the  cause  for  which  the  ever- 
blessed  Spirit  dwells  with  men ;  the  cause  which 
will  finally  result  in  an  aggregate  of  holiness  and 
happiness  which  will  perfectly  gratify  the  infinite 
benevolence  of  the  Infinite  Mind.  In  espousing 
the  right  side  of  such  a  controversy,  there  is  every- 
thing to  give  firmness  of  purpose,  and  diffuse  a 
tranquillity  of  mind  which  nothing  can  disturb. 
We  espouse  it  with  confidence,  because  it  is  the 
side  of  truth  and  righteousness.  And  if  there  be 
a  bosom  that  is  not  dead  to  all  that  is  attractive, 
to  all  that  is  pure  and  lovely,  it  will  not  hesitate 
to  come  up  to  the  help  of  the  Lord  against  the 
mighty. 

It  deserves  consideration  also,  that  the  cause  of 
truth  and  rectitude  will  finally  prevail  and  tri- 
umph. There  have  been  seasons  when  to  human 
view,  it  appeared  that  the  issue  of  the  controversy 
would  be  in  favor  of  the  adversary.  The  seed  of 
the  woman  and  the  seed  of  the  serpent  have  al- 
ternately had  the  advantage.  Success  has  seemed 
to  hover  over  both  sides,  and  the  question  has 


70  THE   FIRST   QUARREL. 

been  on  which  it  is  to  light.  There  is  no  uncer- 
tainty attending  this  question.  Every  promise  in 
God's  word  secures  the  victory  of  Christ  and  his 
people.  It  shall  bruise  thy  head,  and  thou  slmlt 
bruise  his  heel.  He  shall  reign  till  all  enemies  are 
put  tinder  his  feet.  JSTo  weapon  formed  against 
thee  shall  prosper.  He  whose  veracity  may  not  be 
questioned  has  publicly  and  solemnly  declared 
that  he  will  increase  the  number,  the  power,  and 
the  influence  of  his  people,  and  give  them  the  su- 
periority over  the  enemies  of  his  Son.  His  faith- 
fulness stands  pledged,  that  the  kingdom  and  the 
greatness  of  the  kingdom  under  the  ivhole  heaven 
shall  be  given  to  the  saints  of  the  Most  High. 
And  he  has  sealed  these  assurances  by  his  blood. 
In  every  age,  he  has  also  given  his  people  sig- 
nificant preludes  of  their  own  victory,  and  the  final 
overthrow  of  their  enemies.  The  antediluvian 
world — the  hosts  of  Amalek — the  haughty  Egyp- 
tians— the  seven  nations  of  Canaan — the  Chaldeans 
and  Babylonians — the  Persians,  the  Greeks  and 
the  Romans,  and  finally,  the  Jews  were  all  either 
destroyed  or  scattered  over  the  face  of  the  earth, 
and  for  their  opposition  to  Christ  and  his  cause. 
God  is  on  the  side  of  his  people,  and  it  cannot 
be  otherwise  than  that  they  should  prevail.  He 
is  wise  in  heart  and  mighty  in  strength.  There 
is  no  understanding  or  counsel  against  the  Lord. 
He  has  all  means,  instruments,  and  second  causes 


THE   FIRST   QUARREL.  71 

in  his  hands,  and  is  constantly  employing  them  in 
his  service.  Seed-time  and  harvest,  cold  and  heat, 
summer  and  winter,  day  and  night,  sun,  moon, 
and  stars,  ocean  and  elements  are  all  at  his  dis- 
posal, everywhere  fulfilling  his  word.  Legions  of 
angels,  the  armies  of  heaven,  and  the  soldiers  of 
Christ  on  earth  are  at  his  command.  Even  his 
very  enemies  he  can  so  control  and  direct  as  to 
make  them  subservient  to  their  own  overthrow 
and  his  advancement.  The  whole  universe  is  a 
magazine  of  means  to  furnish  him  with  the  in- 
struments of  subjugation  or  death. 

It  would  be  a  pleasant  service,  had  we  space  for 
it,  to  present  a  sketch  of  his  triumphs.  For  the  out- 
line of  these  we  must  refer  you  to  the  predictions 
of  Isaiah,  Daniel,  and  of  John  in  his  Apocalypse. 
You  will  find  them  verified  in  the  Gospels,  in  the 
Acts  of  the  Apostles,  and  in  the  subsequent  his- 
tory of  the  Church  of  God.  The  history  of  the 
Church  is  the  history  of  this  warfare,  and  of  the 
triumphs  of  the  seed  of  the  woman  over  the  seed 
of  the  serpent.  Never  was  this  controversy  more 
violent  than  in  the  first  ages  of  the  Christian  era, 
when  the  colossal  form  of  paganism  extended  itr 
self  from  the  straits  of  Gibraltar  to  the  Caspian 
Sea,  and  from  the  deserts  of  Africa  to  the  British 
islands.  Emperors  with  their  power,  priests  with 
their  superstition,  and  schools  of  philosophy  with 
their  learning,  were  all  arrayed  against  the  church 


72  THE  FIRST   QUARREL. 

of  the  living  God.  The  cities  of  the  world  were 
the  prisons  of  her  children,  and  formed  the  scaf- 
folds where  they  bled.  Yet  three  centuries  had 
scarcely  passed  away  before  Christianity  was  es- 
tablished upon  the  throne  of  the  Csesars,  its  per- 
secutors became  its  disciples,  and  its  temples 
eradicated  the  altars  of  paganism.  Her  next  great 
contest  was  with  the  ignorance  and  darkness  of 
the  middle  ages ;  it  was  a  long  and  bitter  contest, 
and  far  more  terrible  in  its  effects  upon  true  piety 
than  the  persecutions  under  the  Roman  emperors. 
Christianity  itself  became  corrupted.  It  lost  its 
simplicity,  its  heavenly  charity,  its  humble  and 
self-denying  character ;  and  put  on  its  borrowed 
robes  of  exclusiveness,  worldliness,  and  pride,  and 
identified  itself  with  the  grasping  covetousness  and 
unmeaning  and  absurd  ceremonies  of  Rome.  It 
survived  this  conflict,  only  to  be  plunged  into  the 
controversy  with  the  deism  and  infidelity  of  the 
eighteenth  century,  and  to  contend  with  those 
great  masters  of  thought  and  language,  which  were 
the  pride  of  France,  Germany,  and  England,  and 
who,  by  a  sort  of  magnetic  intercommunication, 
were  leagued  together  in  order  to  crush  the  re- 
ligion of  the  cross.  When  at  length  it  came  forth 
unhurt  from  this  contest,  it  came  forth  arrayed  in 
the  garments  of  strength  and  salvation,  armed  with 
the  sword  of  the  Spirit  and  the  shield  of  faith, 
scattering  the  word  of  God  throughout  the  nations, 


THE  FIRST   QUARREL.  73 

sending  its  missionaries  to  distant  lands,  praying 
always  with  all  prayer,  and  standing  still  to  behold 
the  salvation  of  God  in  the  quickening  of  his  peo- 
ple, the  multiplication  and  upbuilding  of  his 
churches,  and  the  conversion  of  thousands  and 
thousands  of  thousands  from  the  error  of  their 
ways  to  the  wisdom  of  the  just. 

It  is  the  work  of  faith  and  the  labor  of  love 
on  the  part  of  Christ  and  his  people,  against  the 
works  of  darkness  and  sin  of  every  form  and  kind. 
It  is  a  crusade,  not  to  rescue  the  holy  land  from  the 
infidel,  but  to  rescue  the  world  from  the  dominion 
of  the  prince  of  darkness,  and  in  which  the  saints 
shall  overcome  "  by  the  blood  of  the  lamb,  and  the 
word  of  his  testimony."  The  triumph  is  begun, 
but  it  is  not  completed.  We  can  see  what  has 
been  accomplished,  and  we  know  the  conquests 
that  are  yet  to  be  achieved.  Even  now,  opposing 
armies  are  retreating  and  melting  away.  And 
who  can  tell  how  soon  the  predicted  battle  of  the 
great  day  of  God  Almighty  will  be  achieved,  after 
which  universal  peace  and  holiness  will  overspread 
the  earth,  and  the  end  will  come.  And  then  the 
voice  of  the  archangel  and  the  trump  of  God  shall 
sound.  The  Redeemer  shall  come  in  the  glory  of 
his  Father  and  of  the  holy  angels,  and  the  saints 
shall  be  caught  up  to  meet  the  Lord  in  the  air. 
And  then  all  hearts  shall  be  made  known,  all 
characters  tried,  and  the  final  sentence  go  forth. 

VOL.  n. — 4 


74  THE  FIRST  QUARREL. 

And  then  this  momentous  controversy  shall  no 
longer  hang  in  suspense;  but  an  assembled  and 
astonished  universe  shall  see  the  hands,  and  hearts, 
and  heads  of  God's  people  lifted  up,  and  the  hands, 
and  hearts,  and  heads  of  his  enemies  bowed  down, 
and  the  Lord  alone  exalted  in  that  day. 

Most  deeply  does  it  concern  us  to  know  which 
side  we  have  taken  of  this  great  controversy.  To 
those  who  have  enlisted  under  the  banner  of 
Christ,  and  wear  his  livery,  allow  us  to  say,  take 
heed  that  you  be  not  recreant  to  your  leader,  nor 
traitors  to  his  cause.  Take  heed  that  you  de- 
light in  his  will,  rejoice  in  his  government,  obey 
him  in  all  things,  glory  in  his  cross,  and  habit- 
ually and  supremely  seek  his  honor.  The  people 
of  God  hold  a  most  important  post  in  this  con- 
flict. Be  sober,  be  vigilant ;  for  your  Adversary, 
the  devil,  goeth  about  like  a  roaring  lion,  seeking 
whom  he  may  devour.  Let  not  your  attention 
be  diverted  from  the  nature  and  importance  of 
the  contest.  Let  not  other  matters  so  absorb 
your  minds  as  to  induce  you  to  lose  sight  of 
this  spiritual  warfare.  The  enemy  will  watch 
for  your  halting.  You  cannot  be  too  wise,  too 
harmless,  too  vigorous,  too  persevering.  You 
have  pledged  your  faith,  and  solemnly  committed 
yourselves  before  God,  and  angels,  and  men.  You 
have  "  published  your  manifesto,"  and  taken  your 
oath,  that  you  will  never  desert  the  cause,  nor  go 


THE   FIRST   QUARREL.  75 

over  to  the  enemy.  Courage !  then,  Christian,  cour- 
age to  the  last !  Ininianuers  banner  waves  over  your 
head,  and  Immanuel  himself  is  with  you.  The 
cause  in  which  you  are  engaged  must  finally  pre- 
vail and  triumph.  Other  kingdoms  shall  pass 
away,  and  become  like  the  chaff  of  the  summer 
threshing-floor ;  but  the  kingdom  of  Christ  shall 
never  be  subverted.  Though  the  numbers  of  the  en- 
emy are  great,  their  strength  is  small ;  and  though 
your  numbers  may  be  small,  your  strength  is 
great.  Gird  on  the  whole  armor  of  God.  Fiarht 
the  good  fight  of  faith ;  and  soon  you  shall  be  dis- 
charged from  the  warfare,  put  off  the  armor,  and 
receive  the  crown. 

It  may  be  that  some  who  read  these  pages  are 
still  on  the  side  of  the  adversary.  They  stand  on 
the  field  of  battle,  and  are  at  war  with  God — with 
his  law  and  government — with  his  gospel  and 
grace — with  his  Son  and  people.  They  are  leagued 
with  the  prince  of  devils  and  with  the  empire  of 
darkness  and  sin.  What  presumption,  what  strange 
infatuation  is  this  ?  You  are  contending  with  the 
infinite  and  eternal  God,  who  kills  and  who  makes 
alive,  who  is  mighty  to  save  or  destroy.  What 
a  spectacle  is  this !  To  contend  with  God,  the  in- 
finite and  omnipotent  God — the  God  of  love — God 
your  Father — God  the  source  of  your  existence, 
and  mercies,  and  hopes — what  a  shocking  specta- 
cle is  this !     You  are  persevering  in  the  contest, 


76  THE  FIRST   QUARREL. 

though  he  has  opened  a  way  of  reconciliation,  and 
given  his  own  Son  a  sacrifice  on  the  altar  of  jus- 
tice, that  he  might  bring  you  back  from  this  un- 
reasonable and  hopeless  revolt.  He  sends  his  am- 
bassadors with  this  treaty  of  peace,  to  beseech  you 
to  become  reconciled  to  your  offended  Prince. 
And  he  is  sending  his  Spirit  to  touch  your  con- 
sciences, and  recall,  and  reclaim  you.  That  Sacred 
Visitant  hovers  around  your  path  when  you  wake 
and  your  pillow  when  you  sleep,  and  is  urging  one 
and  another  to  desert  the  adversary  and  enlist  un- 
der the  banner  of  the  cross. 

Who,  then,  will  give  up  this  fatal  contest,  and  be- 
come reconciled  to  God  %  How  long  halt  you  be- 
tween two  opinions  ?  As  though  God  did  beseech 
you  by  us,  we  pray  you  in  Christ's  stead,  lay  down 
the  weapons  of  your  rebellion.  The  contest  is  fast 
coming  to  an  issue.  The  end  of  all  things  is  at 
hand.  Soon  the  kingdom  of  the  adversary  will 
be  broken,  and  his  throne  will  fall.  Soon  the 
Prince  of  Zion  shall  take  the  contest  into  his  own 
hands,  and  decide  it  irrevocably  and  forever. 
And  then  shall  the  glorious  company  who  have 
won  the  battle,  meet  on  the  plains  of  heaven, 
with  their  robes  washed  white  in  the  blood  of 
their  Leader,  with  palms  of  victory  and  crowns  of 
righteousness.  Then  shall  the  prince  of  this  world 
be  cast  out,  and  all  the  enemies  of  God  and  his 
Christ  take  up  their  abode  in   outer   darkness. 


THE  FIRST  QUARREL.  7f 

And  then  shall  there  be  conflict  no  longer,  but 
eternal  victory  and  eternal  defeat — joy  and  trans- 
port on  the  one  side,  and  lamentation  and  bitter- 
ness on  the  other,  and  never  to  pass  away. 


CHAPTER    XVII. 

€jjj  /irat  Ihntjj. 

Few  facts  in  history  are  more  instructive  and 
melancholy,  than  that  the  first  death  which  ever 
took  place  in  the  world  was  by  the  hand  of  a 
murderer.  What  an  humbling  and  fearful  view 
must  have  forced  itself  on  the  mind  of  our  first 
parents  of  the  consequences  of  their  apostasy ! 
How  strong  the  proof  of  that  melancholy  trans- 
formation of  character  from  the  image  of  God  in 
which  they  were  first  created,  to  a  close  resem- 
blance to  him  "  who  was  a  murderer  from  the  be- 
ginning !"  What  demonstration  of  the  moral  de- 
pravity of  the  race,  that  the  first-born  should  be 
so  utterly  destitute  of  true  holiness,  so  insensible 
to  the  influence  of  motives  that  were  virtuous,  and 
so  alive  to  those  that  were  sinful  and  malignant ! 
From  the  distance  at  which  we  look  upon  this 
deed  of  blood,  we  are  ready  to  ask,  How  was  it 
possible  ?  Can  the  human  heart  be  the  subject 
of  such   great   and   awful   depravity?     What   a 


THE  FIRST  DEATH.  79 

dreadful  act  was  this ;  how  indicative  of  a  stupe- 
fied conscience  and  a  hardened  heart;  and  how 
expressive  of  revenge  and  slaughter,  thus  to  stain 
his  hands  with  a  brother's  blood  !  What  a  com- 
plication of  evil  passions  must  have  found  ac- 
cess to  the  bosom  of  that  guilty  and  miserable 
man,  and  what  utter  extinction  of  his  hopes,  when, 
with  breathless  anxiety  and  boding  terror,  he 
heard  the  one  agonizing  shriek,  and  then  looked 
upon  that  silent  corpse !  Never,  probably,  were 
passions  known  to  human  being  more  terrible 
than  those  which  agitated  his  bosom.  Whether 
he  had  been  led  on,  step  by  step,  or  by  his  hatred 
of  God  and  his  jealousy  of  his  more  accepted 
brother,  had  plunged  suddenly  into  this  fearful 
crime,  we  do  not  know.  But  the  deed  was  done 
which  left  nothing  but  remorse  and  anguish ; 
which  has  made  his  name  accursed ;  which  drove 
him  from  the  midst  of  all  the  warm  and  kindly 
feelings  of  home,  and  made  him  an  outcast  and 
a  vagabond  in  the  earth.  It  was  not  a  stranger 
that  he  had  slain ;  nor  was  it  an  enemy.  There 
were  no  secular  collisions  between  them ;  for  there 
was  room  enough  in  the  world  for  both,  and  they 
might  have  been  mutually  serviceable  to  one  an- 
other. 

No ;  the  earth  was  not  broad  enough  for  them 
both.  Though  God's  creature,  and  one  who  had  as 
good  a  right  to  live  as  himself,  he  rose  up  against 


80  THE  FIRST  DEATH. 

him  and  slew  him.  There  lay  the  brother  whom 
he  had  once  loved.  He  had  broken  and  trampled 
on  the  nearest  and  dearest  ties ;  he  had  murdered 
one  who  "  hung  on  the  same  breast,  dimmed  the 
eyes  that  looked  on  him  in  infancy,  frozen  the 
warm  heart  that  was  cradled  in  the  same  womb 
with  his."  Yes ;  there  he  lay — that  youthful  and 
manly  form  motionless ;  that  smile  once  so  cheer- 
ful, passed  away  in  the  ghastliness  of  death.  And 
now  the  murderer  stood  alone  in  the  field.  God's 
eye  was  upon  him.  Conscience  was  no  longer 
hushed  to  silence.  He  had  done  his  work,  and 
the  voice  of  his  brother's  blood  cried  to  heaven 
from  the  ground. 

"  Out  of  the  heart  proceed  evil  thoughts,  mur- 
ders, adulteries,  fornications,  thefts,  false  witness, 
blasphemies."  It  is  not  enough  to  say  with  Paul, 
"  I  know  that  in  me,  that  is  in  my  flesh,  dwelleth 
no  good  thing."  The  apostate  mind  of  man  is 
capable  of  all  evil.  It  is  a  homely,  but  true  re- 
mark of  a  quaint,  but  strong  and  sensible  writer, 
"  The  spawn  of  original  sin  contains  all  sin  in  it : 
as  a  spawn  is  enough  to  consume  all,  if  fuelled :  as 
the  mud,  after  the  overflowing  of  the  Nile,  pro- 
duceth  all  monsters ;  and  the  leprosy  spreads  all 
over,  if  let  alone."  We  are  tempted  to  say,  as 
we  think  of  Cain,  O,  if  this  is  maris  nature,  Avould 
that  I  had  never  been  born !  Yet  is  this  man's 
nature;  the  source  must  be  judged  of  by  the  bitter 


THE  FIRST  DEATH.  81 

streams  which  flow  from  it.  God  himself  has  de- 
clared, "  He  that  liatetli  his  brother  is  a  murderer.1'' 
Every  man  is  a  murderer  by  nature ;  he  would 
prove  himself  a  murderer,  but  for  the  preventing 
grace  of  the  Most  High ;  and  but  for  that  grace, 
his  existence  would  prove  a  curse.  I  know  it  is 
a  wise  dispensation,  because  it  was  directed  by 
God's  wisdom,  but  it  is  a  mysterious  dispensation, 
that  God  suffered  this  first  murderer  to  live.  We 
are  told  that  God  "  set  a  mark  upon  Cain,  lest  any 
finding  him  should  kill  him.'1  Whether  he  did 
this,  in  order  to  send  him  into  the  world,  thus 
with  the  halter  round  his  neck,  and  this  brand  of 
infamy  upon  his  forehead,  and  render  his  life  a 
burden;  or  whether,  in  that  early  age  of  the 
world,  he  would  try  the  effect  of  his  long  suffer- 
ing, we  are  unable  to  determine.  One  thing  is 
obvious  from  the  narrative,  that  the  voice  of  na- 
ture, the  voice  of  reason,  the  voice  of  conscience, 
the  voice  of  humanity  cried  aloud  for  the  fitting 
penalty  of  his  crime,  and  demanded  blood  for 
blood;  else  would  it  never  have  been  written, 
"lest  any  finding  him,  should  hill  him."  If  the 
forbearance  to  execute  this  penalty  was  to  show 
what  the  effect  of  the  divine  long-suffering  would 
be,  most  abundantly  was  it  evinced  in  the  re- 
venge and  bloodshed,  and  the  scenes  of  carnage 
and  havoc,  and  gigantic  crime  which  made  God 
repent  that  he  had  made  man  on  the  earth,  con- 

4* 


82  THE   FIRST   DEATH. 

strained  hirn  to  destroy  the  world  by  a  flood,  and 
subsequently  extorted  from  him  that  great  and 
universal  law,  "  He  that  sheddeth  man's  blood,  by 
man  shall  his  blood  be  shed." 

But  we  say  no  more  of  the  first  murderer ;  he 
has  gone  to  his  own  place.  It  is  of  the  murdered 
one  that  we  propose  to  speak.  It  is  not  a  poetical, 
nor  rhetorical  view  of  this  first  death  that  most 
interests  us.  It  is  a  more  serious  and  practical 
view,  and  one  which  interests  us  as  dying  men. 
The  names  of  Cain  and  Abel  live  in  the  New  Tes- 
tament history,  and  are  fraught  with  instruction. 
We  have  already  adverted  to  some  of  the  lovely 
and  heaven-imparted  traits  of  the  renovated  and 
sanctified  character  of  this  murdered  man;  we 
dwell  now  upon  his  death — the  first  death  on  the 
annals  of  time.  In  its  proximate  cause,  it  was  a 
fearful  death ;  but  that  the  world  might  see  and 
admire  the  power  of  God's  recovering  grace  in 
contrast  with  the  terrible  effects  of  man's  apostasy, 
it  was  a  peaceful  and  happy  death,  and  as  such 
speaks  to  every  subsequent  age  of  the  world. 

The  question  has  been  long  and  warmly  dis- 
cussed, Whether  the  doctrine  of  a  future  state  was 
revealed  to  the  patriarchal  age.  Among  the  many 
proofs  that  the  great  Jewish  lawgiver  taught  this 
truth,  none  is  more  conclusive  than  the  death  of 
Abel.  The  New  Testament  has  most  distinctly 
revealed  to  us,  that  this  first  instance  of  mortal- 


THE   FIRST   DEATH.  83 

ity  was  the  first  triumph  of  redeeming  grace. 
The  Apostle  Paul,  in  directing  the  thoughts  of 
the  Hebrew  Christians  to  that  "great  cloud  of 
witnesses"  to  the  truth,  and  efficacy,  and  pre- 
ciousness  of  the  gospel,  includes  Abel  in  the  same 
catalogue  of  worthies  with  Enoch,  Noah,  Abra- 
ham, Isaac,  Jacob,  and  Moses,  and  then  affirms, 
"These  all  died  in  faith" 

How  soon  did  death  enter  this  newly  formed 
world!  Adam's  first-born  probably  hoped  to 
bury  his  parents ;  little  probably  did  the  parents 
think  to  bury  their  first-born.  Sad  assurance  that 
death  is  the  inheritance  of  the  race  !  Human  life 
is  not  only  frail  and  fugitive  in  itself;  but  ten 
thousand  instruments  of  destruction  are  always 
near,  and  wait  but  the  divine  permission  to  do 
their  fatal  work.  The  graves  of  those  we  love 
compel  us  to  pause  in  our  course ;  they  are  breath- 
ing-places in  our  rapid  career,  where  we  may  look 
back  upon  the  ground  we  have  trodden  over,  and 
forward  to  the  certainty  that  our  race  must  soon 
be  run.  God  does  not  suffer  time  to  flow  on 
broken  by  no  obstructions,  interrupted  by  no 
changes,  and  checkered  by  no  indications  of  its 
uncertainty.  Everything  conspires  to  tell  us  that 
we  must  die.  Vacant  chambers,  vacant  offices, 
vacant  seats  in  the  house  of  God,  and  places  else- 
where once  occupied,  to  be  occupied  no  more,  re- 
mind us  that  human  life  is  "  soon  cut  off,  and  we 


84  THE  FIRST   DEATH. 

fly  away."  Day  utters  this  affecting  sentiment 
unto  day,  and  night  utters  it  unto  night.  The 
seasons,  in  their  alternate  majesty  and  beauty,  pro- 
claim it.  The  elements  announce  it ;  the  heavens 
and  the  earth  are  one  great  dial  which  is  continu- 
ally sending  out  its  monitory  notes  to  tell  us  how 
much  of  our  short  life  is  already  gone,  and  to  as- 
sure us  that  its  end  is  ni^h. 

Those  there  are  who  die,  who  never  thought  of 
making  any  preparation  for  death;  they  are 
"  driven  away  in  their  wickedness."  Nothing  is 
more  strongly  marked  in  their  character  than  a 
fixed  aversion  to  "  consider  their  latter  end."  The 
things  of  time  interested  them ;  they  were  wise  to 
plan,  and  eager  to  pursue  the  business  of  this 
world ;  but  they  were  slow  to  think  of  death  and 
the  world  to  come  ;  or  if  alarmed  by  some  fearful 
providence,  they  were  constrained  to  serious  re- 
flection, the  subject  was  soon  dismissed  and  forgot- 
ten. They  resolved,  perhaps,  to  become  Christians 
before  they  died ;  but  before  they  were  aware  of 
his  approach,  death  was  too  near  for  them  to  pre- 
pare for  his  coming.  They  were  on  the  very 
threshold  of  eternity;  nor  was  it  until  the  last 
sands  were  dropping  from  the  hour-glass,  that 
some  friendly  voice  whispered  to  them  that  they 
were  already  in  the  last  conflict.  Not  a  word 
was  uttered  about  the  interminable  hereafter ;  not 
a  thought  was  expressed  about  the  immortal  soul, 


THE  FIRST  DEATH.  85 

not  a  lisp  of  Christ  and  his  redemption.  The  body 
died,  and  the  soul,  unprepared,  uncomforted,  went 
to  meet  its  Judge.  The  bond  is  sundered  that 
bound  them  to  earth  ;  affection  dropped  its  tears  of 
grief,  and  the  cold  tenement  of  clay  was  committed 
to  the  coffin  and  the  grave.  Death  closed  upon 
them  the  door  of  hope  and  of  heaven,  and  closed 
it  forever.  The  account  is  sealed  up ;  it  cannot 
be  altered  ;  it  is  immutable  as  eternity. 

The  death  of  Abel  was  not  such  a  death  as  this. 
"  He  died  in  faith?  Let  us  pause  a  moment  here, 
and  inquire  how  it  was,  that  he,  and  all  who  die 
as  happily  as  he  died,  made  this  high  attainment. 

It  is  not  in  a  moment  that  men  prepare  to  die. 
There  is  previous  thought  and  preparation  for  death, 
where  this  closing  scene  of  life  is  tranquil  and  hap- 
py.    Nor  is  it  perturbed  and  distracted  thought. 

There  is  a  God,  and  both  living  and  dying 
men  are  his  creatures.  There  is  such  a  state  of 
mind  as  the  habit  of  reflecting  upon  his  being 
as  the  most  important  reality  in  the  universe, 
and  of  feeling  that  none  can  escape  his  searching 
eye,  nor  flee  from  his  all-governing  dominion. 
Men  themselves  have  a  rational  existence ;  a  body 
fearfully  and  wonderfully  made,  and  a  thinking, 
sensitive  spirit  within  them,  that  will  outlive  time 
and  all  its.  changes,  and  will  wake  to  an  eternity 
beyond  the  grave.  Many  a  time  a  reflecting  man 
will  ask  himself  the  question,  What  am  If  why  was 


86  THE  FIRST   DEATH. 

I  horn?  For  what  great  purpose  do  I  find  my- 
self an  inhabitant  of  this  earth,  and  what  is  the 
great  errand  on  which  I  have  been  sent  into  this 
world  of  hope  and  mercy  ?  This  short  life  is  a 
most  important  period  of  his  being.  A  great 
work  is  assigned  him ;  and  by  the  combined  laws 
of  man's  nature  and  God's  government,  the  course 
which  men  pursue  here  must  influence  their  des- 
tiny through  interminable  ages.  Those  there  are 
who  have  been  attracted  by  the  charms  of  earth ;  all 
the  fascinating  pleasures  of  sin  have  exerted  their 
influence  to  urge  them  onward  in  the  broad  way 
that  leads  to  death ;  but  they  have  taken  the 
alarm  at  this  easy  and  rapid  descent,  and  trembled 
at  the  consequences  of  walking  in  the  ways  of  the 
destroyer.  They  have  entered  into  their  closet  to 
implore  the  Father  of  mercies  that  he  would 
"send  out  his  light  and  his  truth  and  let  them 
lead  them ;"  and  there  they  have  learned  the  folly 
of  risking  their  eternity  upon  a  life  of  wicked- 
ness, and  rushing  upon  the  experiment  of  living 
without  God,  and  dying  without  hope.  They  have 
looked  into  their  own  hearts,  and  there  read  many 
an  humbling  lesson,  and  have  made  discoveries  of 
their  wickedness  that  have  filled  them  with  ap- 
prehension. They  have  learned  that  God  is  holy, 
and  cannot  approve  of  sin ;  that  he  is  just  and  can- 
not allow  them  to  transgress  his  law  with  impu- 
nity.   They  have  read  his  threatenings ;  they  know 


THE   FIRST   DEATH.  87 

that  he  is  able  to  execute  them,  and  that  "  he  is 
of  one  mind,  and  none  can  turn  him."  Their  re- 
sponsibility to  God  their  Maker  has  assumed  a 
character  of  most  serious  importance.  They  have 
sinned  against  God;  the  case  is  plain,  that  if  they 
die  in  their  sins,  they  must  lie  down  in  sorrow. 
It  is  a  settled  point,  that  they  are  heirs  of  eter- 
nity, and  must  forever  dwell  in  glory,  or  despair. 
They  have  thought  of  these  things.  A  secret  voice 
within  them  has  often  uttered  the  expostulation, 
"  What  shall  it  profit  a  man  if  he  gain  the  whole 
world,  and  lose  his  own  soul  ?"  This  is  the  earli- 
est characteristic  of  those  who  "  die  in  faith,"  and 
as  Abel  died. 

But  their  reflections  do  not  stop  here.  Such  a 
state  of  mind  as  that  just  described  is  not  often 
long  endured.  Those  who  are  the  subjects  of  it, 
either  drop  the  subject  of  religion,  or  take  another 
step,  and  repair  to  the  gospel  of  the  Son  of  God. 
Abel  lived  under  the  shadow  of  a  dark  dispensa- 
tion, but  he  believed  in  the  promise  of  a  Saviour 
to  come,  and  rested  on  that  promise  as  the  only 
foundation  of  hope.  This  promise  was  not  yet 
fulfilled ;  yet  he  had  no  doubt  of  its  fulfilment, 
and  no  doubt  of  the  perfect  all-sufficiency  of  the 
predicted  Messiah  as  "  able  to  save  to  the  utter- 
most all  that  come  unto  God  by  him."  "  Not 
having  received  the  promises,  but  having  seen 
them  afar  off,  he  was  persuaded  of  them  and  em- 


88  THE  FIRST  DEATH. 

braced  them."  It  were  interesting  to  analyze  the 
operations  of  his  mind  in  view  of  the  great  truths 
of  the  gospel  thus  obscurely  revealed  under  the 
dawning  light  of  those  early  ages  of  time.  It  was 
by  faith  in  this  promise,  as  we  have  already  seen, 
that  "  he  offered  unto  God  a  more  excellent  sacri- 
fice than  Cain ;"  and  by  it,  "  he  being  dead,  yet 
speaketh,"  uttering  to  us  and  to  all  men  the  value 
and  preciousness  of  that  great  sacrifice  whose 
"  blood  speaketh  better  things"  than  the  blood  of 
all  other  sacrifices.  It  was  by  this  same  faith  that 
"  Enoch  was  translated,  that  he  should  not  see 
death ;"  presenting  in  his  own  character  an  example 
of  reconciliation  to  God,  to  all  subsequent  genera- 
tions. It  was  thus,  too,  that  "  Noah  being  warned 
of  God  of  things  not  seen  as  yet,"  prepared  the 
ark,  and  "  became  heir  of  the  righteousness  which 
is  by  faith."  It  was  thus,  too,  that  "  Abraham, 
when  he  was  tried,  offered  up  Isaac."  The  com- 
mand, "  Take  now  thy  son,  thine  only  son,  and 
offer  him  for  a  burnt  offering  on  one  of  the  moun- 
tains that  I  shall  tell  thee  of,"  was  a  revelation  by 
actions  instead  of  words,  of  the  great  sacrifice  of 
Christ  for  the  redemption  of  mankind.  Abraham 
had  longed  impatiently  to  "  see  Christ's  day,"  and 
he  thus  "  saw  it  and  was  glad."  Yet  none  of  these 
ancient  believers  had  those  clear  views  of  the  way 
of  salvation  by  Christ  which  are  furnished  by  the 
Christian  revelation.     They  died  in  the  faith  of 


THE  FIRST  DEATH.  89 

Jesus  ;  but  "  God  lias  provided  some  better  thing 
for  us,  that  they  without  us,  should  not  be  made 
perfect."  The  Saviour  who  was  made  known  to 
them  only  by  promise,  is  made  known  to  us  by  the 
promise  fulfilled.  It  is  on  this  Sacrifice,  this  now 
completed  and  perfected  atonement,  that  all  who 
die  in  faith  place  their  hopes.  Their  responsibility 
to  God  their  Maker  is  sustained  only  by  an  humble 
reliance  on  the  person  and  work  of  his  Son.  They 
receive  this  Saviour  as  he  is  offered  in  the  gospel ; 
as  their  divine  teacher,  and  as  their  only  deliverer 
from  sin  and  the  curse.  They  have  seen  that  there 
is  no  other  way  of  escape,  than  by  repairing  to  him 
who  is  "  the  end  of  the  law  for  righteousness  to 
every  one  that  believeth  ;"  no  cleansing,  if  he  wash 
them  not ;  and  no  "  light  of  life,"  if  they  take  not  up 
their  cross  and  follow  after  him.  They  have  been 
burdened  and  heavy  laden ;  they  have  been  like  the 
troubled  sea,  laboring  and  tossing,  and  found  no  rest 
day  nor  night ;  but  they  enjoy  peace  in  the  ark,  and 
"  have  entered  into  rest."  They  did  not  "  neglect 
this  great  salvation."  They  found  it  dark  at  first, 
and  perhaps  hard  to  be  understood ;  but  atten- 
tion, thought,  prayer,  and  God's  blessing  made  this 
way  of  mercy  plain,  and  they  were  satisfied  with 
it,  rejoiced  in  it,  it  was  all  their  salvation  and  all 
their  desire.  It  was  no  easy  matter  to  give  over 
laboring  to  build  up  a  righteousness  of  their  own  ; 
they  lingered,  hoping  that  they  should  grow  bet- 


90  THE  FIRST  DEATH. 

ter,  and  still  striving  to  do  something  to  recom- 
mend them  to  the  divine  favor ;  but  they  found 
there  was  salvation  in  no  other,  that  they  had 
nothing  to  give  for  it,  and  nothing  to  do  but  ac- 
cept it,  as  the  gift  of  God  through  Jesus  Christ. 
It  was  not  in  themselves  they  gloried  ;  they  gloried 
in  the  cross.  The  love  of  Christ  constrained  them 
to  live  not  unto  themselves,  but  to  him  ;  these 
new  bonds  of  self-devotement  they  made  welcome  ; 
and  when  they  came  to  the  close  of  their  pilgrim- 
age, they  found  it  gain  to  die. 

Abel  also  had  relinquished  this  world  as  his 
portion,  and  had  made  choice  of  a  better  and  more 
enduring  inheritance.  "  These  all  died  in  faith,"  says 
the  Apostle,  "  not  having  received  the  promises, 
but  having  seen  them  afar  off,  and  were  persuaded 
of  them,  and  embraced  them,  and  confessed  that 
they  ivere  strangers  and  pilgrims  on  the  earth. 
For  they  that  say  such  things  declare  plainly  that 
they  seek  a  country.  And  truly,  if  they  had  been 
mindful  of  that  country  from  which  they  came 
out,  they  might  have  had  opportunity  to  have  re- 
turned. But  now  they  desire  a  better  country, 
that  is  an  heavenly ;  wherefore  God  is  not  ashamed 
to  be  called  their  God,  for  he  hath  provided  for 
them  a  city." 

The  great  struggle  to  which  men  are  called  is 
between  the  things  that  are  seen,  and  the  things 
that  are  not  seen ;  the  things  that  are  temporal 


THE  FIRST   DEATH.  91 

and  the  things  that  are  eternal.  "  The  flesh  lust- 
eth  against  the  spirit,"  and  the  spirit  against  the 
flesh ;  and  these  are  "contrary  the  one  to  the  other." 
This  is  the  great  battle  of  human  life.  Earth  and 
time  array  themselves  against  God,  heaven,  and 
eternity.  Nor  is  it  without  an  effort,  nor  without 
imparted  grace,  that  any  of  the  children  of  Adam 
are  enabled  to  decide  between  these  conflicting 
claims.  Powerful  is  the  appeal  of  the  things  that 
are  seen  and  temporal ;  and  not  less  powerful  that 
of  the  things  unseen  and  eternal.  Men  are  crea- 
tures of  sense ;  the  appeal  of  the  former  is  ever 
present  and  ever  reiterated,  while  the  appeal  of 
the  latter  is  from  a  distant  world,  and  made  not 
to  sense,  but  to  faith.  Their  own  views  and  dis- 
positions are  naturally  all  on  the  wrong  side 
of  the  question.  They  halt  between  two  opinions, 
and  hesitate  to  come  to  a  decided  choice.  Their 
reason  teaches  them  that  this  world  cannot  stand 
in  competition  with  durable  riches  and  right- 
eousness ;  and  their  conscience  teaches  them  that 
it  is  right  to  seek  those  things  that  are  above. 
Still  their  hearts  linger,  and  they  complain  of 
the  want  of  power,  of  the  want  of  time  and 
opportunity,  and  even  of  the  want  of  inclina- 
tion, and  wonder  why  the  realities  of  eternity  do 
not  appear  to  them  in  their  true  importance.  But 
by  the  grace  of  God  they  are  brought  to  a  solemn 
pause,  and  enabled  to  come  to  a  decided  choice. 


92  THE  FIRST  DEATH. 

The  "  eyes  of  their  understanding  being  enlight- 
ened," they  "  know  the  hope  of  their  calling,"  and 
begin  to  live  for  eternity.  Their  interest  in  the 
concerns  of  time  begins  to  diminish,  they  scarcely 
know  how,  or  why;  the  world  seems  more  and 
more  like  vanity,  and  their  relish  for  its  pleasures 
is  transferred  to  joys  which  this  world  knows  not 
of.  Their  home  is  on  the  earth  still,  and  here  their 
duties ;  nor  do  they  find  these  scenes  and  duties 
joyless  ;  but  they  have  other  and  higher  aims,  and 
live  "as  strangers  and  pilgrims  on  the  earth." 
They  are  gradually  weaned  from  earth,  and  direct 
their  steps  to  a  different  and  more  distant  land. 
They  do  not,  they  ought  not  to  depreciate  this 
fair  and  beautiful  world ;  but  they  enjoy  and  use 
it  as  not  abusing  it,  for  "  the  fashion  of  it  pass- 
eth  away."  There  are  seasons  when  they  feel 
that  there  is  nothing  beneath  the  sun  worthy  of 
an  anxious  wish.  Not  unfrequently  everything 
earthly  seems  to  them  shrouded  in  gloom ;  they 
look  upon  it  as  a  desert  world,  and  it  is  a  soothing 
reflection,  that  "here  they  have  no  continuing 
city." 

Nor  are  these  always  the  seasons  of  earthly 
tribulation.  The  world  is  still  within  their  reach  ; 
its  duties  are  not  irksome,  nor  its  joys  insipid;  its 
honors  have  not  faded,  nor  was  its  wealth  cor- 
rupted by  moth  and  rust.  But  they  seek  a  better 
country  that  is  an  heavenly.    God,  their  own  God 


THE  FIRST  DEATH.  93 

"has  prepared  for  them  a  city."  They  "look 
for  a  new  heaven  and  a  new  earth  wherein  dwell- 
eth  righteousness."  They  have  no  desire  to  go 
hack  to  the  world.  Like  Abel  and  the  ancient 
patriarchs,  if  "  they  had  been  mindful"  of  return- 
ing to  it,  they  might  return  to  it  as  their  chosen 
portion.  But  their  minds  are  made  up ;  they 
have  made  choice  of  a  better  and  more  enduring 
inheritance,  where  "  God  will  wipe  away  all  tears 
from  their  eyes ;  and  there  shall  be  no  more  death, 
neither  sorrow,  nor  crying,  neither  shall  there  be 
any  more  pain  ;  for  the  former  things  are  passed 
away." 

Abel  no  doubt  also  'possessed  a  heavenly  mind. 
True  religion  exists  in  various  degrees  in  the  pres- 
ent world  ;  nor  may  we  call  its  reality  in  question 
where  the  higher  degrees  of  it  are  not  perceived. 
An  habitually  heavenly  mind  is  one  of  the  most 
delightful  indications  of  its  reality  and  power,  and 
the  sweetest  preparative  to  die  in  faith.  Yet  this 
is  comparatively  a  rare  attainment.  Much  of  the 
time  of  true  Christians  is,  and  must  be  employed  in 
the  business  of  time.  But  while  this  must  be  so 
in  the  present  condition  of  their  being,  they  may 
at  the  same  time  employ  their  hands  upon  the 
world,  and  set  their  hearts  on  heaven.  The  best 
of  men  find  this  a  difficult  service ;  it  costs  them 
great  watchfulness  and  much  prayer,  amid  so 
many  distracting  cares  and  toils  of  earth,  to  set 


94  THE  FIRST  DEATH. 

their  affections  on  things  that  "  are  above."  Their 
souls  too  often  "  cleave  to  the  dust,"  and  their 
hearts  are  sometimes  overcharged,  and  "  careful 
about  many  things."  Yet  is  such  a  state  of  mind 
the  ripe  fruit  of  the  Spirit.  Abel  and  those  an- 
cient saints  were  men  of  this  character ;  and  they 
constitute  a  "cloud  of  witnesses"  to  the  power 
and  preciousness  of  that  faith  which  is  "  the  sub- 
stance of  things  hoped  for,  and  the  evidence  of 
things  not  seen."  Every  heaven-born  mind  is  sub- 
stantially a  heavenly  mind.  It  is  no  longer  a 
barren  waste,  where  no  heavenly  affection  blooms. 
Flowers  of  Paradise  grow  upon  it ;  and  fruits  of 
righteousness,  though  stinted  in  their  growth, 
there  exhale  their  sweetness.  Every  heaven-born 
mind  is  a  heaven-directed  mind ;  its  spiritual 
growth  and  expansion  discover  an  upward  aim 
and  tendency.  Though  dwelling  in  this  dark 
dungeon  of  flesh  and  blood,  it  pushes  its  way 
toward  more  sunny  climes.  Not  unfrequently  it 
has  pleasant  anticipations  of  the  employment  of 
the  heavenly  world,  and  sweet  foretastes  of  its 
joys.  There  are  gracious  manifestations  made 
to  it ;  it  is  overshadowed  by  luminous  clouds ; 
and  its  evening  twilight  vanishes  in  brighter  day. 
It  is  heavenward  in  its  tendencies,  and  is  more 
and  more  sustained  and  comforted  by  influences 
that  are  unearthly. 

Minds  there  are  such  as  these,  and  Christians 


THE  FIRST  DEATH.  95 

such  as  these.  And  when  they  perceive  them- 
selves approaching  the  end  of  their  course,  it  is  no 
grief  of  heart  to  them  that  they  must  die.  They 
have  thought  of  it,  and  it  does  not  come  upon 
them  as  a  thief  in  the  night.  They  have  pre- 
pared for  it,  and  it  does  not  fill  them  with 
alarm,  or  even  surprise.  They  have  set  their 
house  in  order,  no  hasty  and  perturbed  secular 
arrangements  disturb  their  tranquillity.  The 
shroud  that  is  to  cover  them,  and  the  quiet  sepul- 
chre where  they  would  rest,  and  whence  they  would 
rise  to  their  Father's  house,  have  all  been  thought 
of,  and  they  welcome  the  hour  when  the  "  dust 
returns  to  the  earth  as  it  was,  and  the  spirit  to 
God  who  gave  it."  They  well  know  that  the 
cheerless  regions  of  earth  are  not  the  regions 
where  the  heirs  of  glory  should  dwell.  Their 
thoughts  are  heavenward  ;  their  affections  and  de- 
sires are  heavenward  ;  their  treasure  is  in  heaven ; 
and  where  their  treasure  is,  there  their  heart  is 
also.  Their  Father's  house  is  there  ;  their  inheri- 
tance is  there,  and  there  their  portion  and  joy. 
The  Saviour  they  love  is  there,  and  they  shall  see 
him  as  he  is,  and  be  like  him.  Loved  kindred  and 
friends,  not  a  few,  are  there ;  the  believing  mother 
meets  her  believing  children  there  ;  the  husband, 
the  wife  of  his  youth ;  and  the  widow  there,  is  a 
widow  no  more. 

Many  a  time  do  those  who  thus  die  in  faith, 


96  THE  FIRST  DEATH. 

"  desire  to  depart  and  be  with  Christ,"  and  are 
"  willing  rather  to  be  absent  from  the  body  and 
present  with  the  Lord."  Nor  is  there  any  stronger 
indication  of  a  heavenly  mind,  than  this  heaven- 
ward tendency.  There  is  nothing  that  so  fits 
the  saints  of  God  for  heaven  as  this;  or  that 
so  certainly  destroys  the  terrors  of  the  grave,  and 
prepares  them  to  die  in  peace.  That  upward  look, 
how  sweet,  how  bright  is  it !  Those  hallowed  in- 
fluences, how  sweet  the  fragrance  they  shed  upon 
the  pillow  of  death,  how  placid  the  tranquillity 
with  which  they  clothe  the  sleeping  clay,  and 
how  delightful  the  perfume  they  scatter  upon  the 
cold  marble  that  covers  the  precious  dead  !  That 
conscience  and  heart  so  tender,  those  habits  of  the 
soul  so  purified,  the  whole  being  so  encircled  by 
an  unearthly  atmosphere,  and  imbued  with  the 
temper  and  spirit  of  heaven, — what  proofs  are 
these  that  heaven  is  prepared  for  such  a  mind  ? 

It  was  thus  that  Abel  died,  though  he  fell  by 
the  murderer's  hand.  It  was  not  he  who  was 
plunged  in  guilt  and  wretchedness.  He  was  meet 
to  be  "  partaker  of  the  inheritance  with  the  saints 
in  light."  He  had  been  suddenly  taken  out  of 
this  world's  wilderness,  and  thus  decked  with  the 
beauties  of  holiness,  in  order  to  be  transplanted  to 
the  Paradise  that  is  above.  Was  he  born  of  God  ; 
it  was  that  he  might  be  thus  fitted  for  heaven. 
Was  he  progressively  sanctified,  and  weaned  from 


THE  FIRST  DEATH.  97 

earth,  and  attracted  upwards;  it  was  that  he 
might  "  die  in  faith,"  and  when  the  "  earthly  house 
of  this  tabernacle  is  dissolved,  have  a  building  of 
God,  an  house  not  made  with  hands,  eternal  in  the 
heavens."  He  had  washed  his  robes  "  and  made 
them  white  in  the  blood  of  the  Lamb."  One  there 
was  who  watched  over  him  with  unsleeping  eye, 
guarded  him  by  a  wakeful  providence,  and  re- 
deemed and  kept  him  by  wonderful  grace,  and  in 
whose  behalf  he  uttered  the  prayer,  "  Father,  I 
will  that  those  whom  thou  hast  given  me  be  with 
me  where  I  am,  that  they  may  behold  my  glory, 
even  the  glory  I  had  with  thee  before  the  founda- 
tion of  the  world  !"  The  fatal  blow  that  severed 
him  from  earth,  did  not  sever  him  from  the  family 
of  God.  He  was  one  of  those  of  whom  it  is  writ- 
ten, "  God  is  not  ashamed  to  be  called  their  God, 
for  he  hath  prepared  for  them  a  city."  He  was 
one  of  his  peculiar  people  ;  God  was  not  ashamed 
to  own  him  as  his  child  ;  for  he  meant  thus  early 
to  render  him  the  adornment  of  his  kingdom,  and 
in  the  day  when  he  makes  up  his  jewels,  set  mur- 
dered Abel  in  his  crown.  He  was  beautiful 
through  the  comeliness  God  put  upon  him ;  and 
on  this  the  day  of  his  espousals,  he  was  presented 
to  him  without  spot,  or  wrinkle,  or  any  such  thing. 
He  died  to  time,  but  lived  to  eternity  ;  he  died  to 
earth,  but  lived  to  heaven,  lived  to  God ;  and  as  a 

VOL.  II. — 5 


98  THE  FIRST   DEATH. 

"  bridegroom  rejoiceth  over  his  bride,  so  doth  his 
God  rejoice  over  him." 

The  Scriptures  speak  of  dying  in  faith ;  and 
they  also  speak  of  living  in  faith.  What  God 
hath  thus  joined  together,  let  not  man  put  asun- 
der !  They  are  the  actings  of  faith  in  the  ordinary 
course  of  human  life,  which  prepare  the  soul  for 
the  more  special  and  extraordinary  actings  of  it  at 
the  approach  of  death.  We  may  not  look  for 
comfortable  evidence  of  a  gracious  state  in  the 
melancholy  hour  when  the  "  last  enemy"  invades 
us,  if  we  have  no  comfortable  evidence  amid  the 
checkered  scenes  of  labor,  mourning  and  joy. 
Just  think  of  Abel,  if  he  had  looked  for  a  death- 
bed repentance  !  There  must  be  something  to  feed 
these  vital  hopes  beside  the  dying  embers  that  are 
just  ready  to  expire.  If  the  goal  be  attained,  the 
race  must  be  run.  Joy  and  peace  in  believing  are 
the  results  of  the  process  of  redemption  in  our 
own  hearts.  The  fear  of  death  will  hold  us  in 
bondage,  if  we  wait  till  he  approaches,  for  the  de- 
lightful, or  even  the  tranquil  anticipations  of  the 
heavenly  immortality.  It  is  a  vain  hope  to  expect 
to  bask  in  the  brightness  of  the  divine  presence 
when  the  last  dark  cloud  of  time  overshadows  us, 
if  we  have  never  walked  in  the  light  of  God's 
countenance  while  travelling  through  the  wilder- 
ness. Take  heed,  then,  how  you  allow  your  minds 
to  be  so  absorbed  in  the  pursuits  of  time,  that,  in- 


THE   FIRST   DEATH.  99 

stead  of  living  as  strangers  and  pilgrims  on  the 
earth,  and  seeking  a  better  country,  that  is  an 
heavenly,  your  thoughts  and  habits  become  so 
secularized  that  when  you  lie  on  your  bed  of  lan- 
guishing, the  terrible  apprehension  shall  agitate 
yon,  that  the  God  of  heaven  is  not  your  refuge, 
your  portion,  your  resting-place.  A  living  faith 
carries  its  own  evidence  with  it.  It  shines  by  its 
own  light,  and  shines  brightest  when  it  gilds  the 
dark  mountains  that  hide  it  from  the  view  of  men. 
But  are  there  not  some  of  my  readers  to  whom 
we  must  address  a  different  language  ?  Are  there 
not  those  of  whom,  had  the  rapacious  grave  swal- 
lowed them  up  before  the  present  hour,  it  could 
not  have  been  said,  That  they  died  as  peacefully 
as  Abel  died  ?  Melancholy  thought !  Temporal 
death  would  only  have  conducted  you  to  the  death 
eternal ;  the  dark  grave  would  have  been  but  the 
short  passage  to  a  darker  eternity.  What  thanks 
do  you  not  owe  to  God's  forbearance,  that  it  is 
still  the  day  of  your  merciful  visitation !  Even 
now,  after  so  long  a  time,  you  may  flee  to  the  Sa- 
viour's arms,  and  in  him  find  the  earnest  and  pledge 
of  that  life  which  is  forfeited  by  sin  and  restored 
by  grace.  If  you  would  die  in  faith,  your  hearts 
must  bow  to  the  claims  of  that  Saviour.  If  those 
who  follow  your  mortal  bodies  to  the  grave,  are 
elevated  above  the  sorrows  and  afflictions  which 
oppress  them  by  your  departure,  it  must  be  be- 


100  THE  FIRST   DEATH. 

cause  they  cherish  heavenly  hopes  for  you  after 
you  sleep  in  the  dust.  There  is  no  such  consola- 
tion to  the  dying,  there  is  no  such  balm  to  the 
wounds  of  the  bereaved  as  this.  Will  you  die 
without  it ;  or,  without  it,  will  you  leave  tliem  to 
mourn  ?  O  this  were  cruel ! — cruelty  to  them — 
cruelty  to  your  own  souls !  It  is  unutterably 
painful  to  think  of  living  thus,  and  dying  thus,  in 
full  view  of  the  all-sufficient  provisions  of  the  gos- 
pel. You  may  be  nearer  to  death  than  you  are 
aware,  but  not  nearer  than  is  God's  offered  salva- 
tion. The  "  kingdom  of  God  is  come  nigh  unto 
you,"  in  all  its  fulness  and  all  its  adaptation  to 
your  wants  and  woes.  Its  truths  and  mercy  meet 
you  as  a  creature  born  for  immortality,  and  ac- 
countable to  God  the  judge  of  all.  They  meet 
you  as  a  sinner,  under  his  wrath  and  curse,  and 
tell  you  of  one,  and  but  one  way  of  escape. 
They  solemnly  admonish  you  to  "flee  from  the 
wrath  to  come ;"  and  they  tenderly  expostulate 
with  you  in  language  you  cannot  misunderstand, 
when  they  say,  "  Let  the  wicked  forsake  his  way, 
and  the  unrighteous  man  his  thoughts,  and  let 
him  return  unto  the  Lord  and  he  will  have  mercy 
upon  Mm,  and  to  our  God,  for  he  will  abundantly 
pardon."  They  proclaim  to  you,  "  Behold  now  is 
the  accepted  time ;  behold  now  is  the  day  of  sal- 
vation !"  They  startle  you  by  their  Warnings ; 
they  allure  you  by  their  consolations  and  hopes. 


THE  FIRST  DEATH.  101 

Fearful  terrors  issue  from  theni,  if  you  disregard 
their  call ;  if  you  obey,  sweet  peace  and  heavenly 
radiance.  Yes,  'peace — "  peace  of  God  which  pass- 
eth  all  understanding;"  a  radiance  so  pure  and 
heavenly,  that  it  cannot  be  obscured  even  by  the 
night  of  the  grave.  But  they  most  solemnly  caution 
you  against  delay.  They  hold  no  man  guiltless  who 
hesitates  to  become  the  friend  of  truth  and  duty. 
They  give  you  no  warrant  to  presume  on  the 
abused  patience  of  God  for  a  future  season  of  re- 
pentance; because  inexorable  death  is  hastening 
on  the  hour  when  "  your  souls  shall  be  required 
of  you."  The  invisible  and  noiseless  Foe  has  not 
yet  come  up  into  your  chambers.  He  waits  a  lit- 
tle to  see  whether  you  will  awake  from  this  fatal 
slumber  and  make  your  peace  with  God  and  heaven ; 
or  whether  you  will  still  go  on  in  your  trespasses, 
and  bury  these  immortal  hopes  without  a  sigh. 

It  were  wise  to  be  prepared  for  sudden  death. 
Abel  had  not  a  moment's  warning.  Few  men 
know  the  time  when  death  will  come.  You  cannot 
appoint  your  own  time.  We  have  adverted  to  the 
first  death ;  we  do  not  know  the  last.  Nor  can  we 
predict  the  next,  nor  say  that  it  will  not  be  yours 
or  mine.  On  this  solemn  subject,  God's  word  and 
his  providence  are  alike  silent ;  while  both  unite 
in  urging  the  admonition,  "  Boast  not  thyself  of 
to-morrow ;  for  thou  knowest  not  what  a  day  may 
bring  forth !"     "  Human   life  is  a  lighted   taper 


102  THE  FIRST  DEATH. 

in  the  hands  of  a  watchful  providence."  How 
watchfully  must  it  be  covered  by  the  hand,  or  a 
fold  of  the  garment,  of  him  who  carries  it !  A 
drop  of  rain,  or  dew,  a  breath  of  air,  and  it  is  ex- 
tinguished. A  thousand  instruments  of  destruction 
are  always  near  it.  "  It  is  a  vapor  that  appeareth 
for  a  little  time,  and  then  vanisheth  away." 

Is  it  wise,  then,  to  defer  accepting  the  great 
salvation  in  which  the  first  departed  of  our  race 
placed  his  confidence?  Ask  this  question  at 
Abel's  grave,  where  the  mourners  wept,  but  wept 
not  because  their  first-born  was  born  to  die  ?  Ask 
it  at  the  grave  of  the  millions  who  since  that 
time  have  been  numbered  with  the  dead  ?  Ask  it 
of  your  own  beating  pulse,  where  the  question  is  put 
sixty  times  a  minute,  whether  you  shall  live  or  die  ? 


CHAPTER    XVIII. 

€\t  f\n\  fininpU  nf  ifmitunt  !$\i\\ 

The  thought  is  not  always  present  to  our  minds, 
to  what  extent  and  by  what  a  variety  of  means, 
the  God  of  heaven  is  consulting  the  interests  of 
moral  rectitude  in  this  fallen  world.  Next  to  his 
own  glory,  and  as  the  great  means  of  promoting 
the  highest  manifestations  of  his  own  glorious  na- 
ture, is  the  personal  holiness  of  those  who  are  in- 
terested in  the  blessings  of  his  grace.  The  special 
design  of  the  method  of  redemption,  is  to  secure  the 
interests  of  holiness  :  "  God  hath,  from  the  begin- 
ning, chosen  you  to  salvation,  through  sanctification 
of  the  Spirit ;"  whom  "  he  did  foreknow,  he  did  also 
predestinate  to  be  conformed  to  the  image  of  his 
Son."  The  influences  of  his  Spirit  are  promised  and 
imparted  for  this  end.  Create  within  me  "  a  clean 
heart,  O  God,  and  renew  a  right  spirit  within  me ;" 
— "  I  will  give  them  an  heart  to  know  me  ;" — then 
will  "  I  sprinkle  clean  water  upon  you,  and  ye  shall 
be  clean,  and  from  all  your  filthiness  and  from  all 


104       THE  FIRST  EXAMPLE  OF  EMINENT  PIETY. 

your  idols  will  I  cleanse  you."  All  the  truths  of 
the  gospel  are  "  according  to  godliness,"  and  are 
revealed  that  they  may  become  principles  of  holi- 
ness. They  are  all  of  the  holiest  tendency, 
and  teach  men  that  "denying  ungodliness  and 
worldly  lusts,  they  live  soberly,  righteously,  and 
godly  in  this  present  evil  world."  This  was  the 
great  object  of  the  Saviour's  incarnation  and  sacri- 
fice. "  He  gave  himself  for  us,  that  he  might  re- 
deem us  from  all  iniquity,  and  purify  to  himself  a 
peculiar  people  zealous  of  good  works."  The  prom- 
ises which  in  his  word  are  revealed  that  "we 
might  be  partakers  of  the  divine  nature;"  the 
hopes  which  he  imparts  are  holy  hopes  and  hopes 
of  holiness;  while  the  heaven  to  which  the  eye 
of  faith  is  directed  is  a  holy  world,  where  "  there 
shall  enter  nothing  that  defileth ;"  which  "  with- 
out holiness  no  man  shall  see ;"  into  which  God 
"  shall  bring  the  glory  and  the  honor  of  the  na- 
tions;" and  the  perfection  of  whose  blessedness 
shall  be,  that  its  inhabitants  shall  "  be  like  him, 
for  they  shall  see  him  as  he  is." 

It  would  be  a  delightful  fact,  if,  in  the  early  his- 
tory of  the  world,  some  vivid  exemplification  of 
the  power  of  divine  grace  could  be  discovered  so 
clearly  as  to  influence  all  succeeding  generations, 
and  encourage  them  to  aim  at  high  attainments 
in  the  divine  life.  There  is  one  such  record. 
There  were  good  men  before;  but  there  is  no 


THE  FIRST  EXAMPLE  OF  EMINENT  PIETY.       105 

example  of  eminent  piety,  until  we  come  to 
Enoch,  in  the  line  of  Seth.  He  was  the  son  of 
Jared  and  the  father  of  Methusaleh,  the  most  aged 
of  all  the  ancient  patriarchs,  and  the  oldest  man 
on  the  records  of  history.  Enoch  himself  lived 
three  hundred  and  sixty-five  years.  He  was  sixty- 
five  years  of  age  at  the  birth  of  his  first  child ;  and 
from  the  sacred  record,  we  may  infer  he  became  a 
pious  man,  not  far  from  the  time  when  he  first 
felt  the  obligations  of  the  parental  relation.  That 
record  informs  us  that  "  Enoch  walked  with  God 
after  he  begat  Methusaleh,  three  hundred  years." 
His  name  implies  that  he  was  the  instructed  and 
dedicated  one  ;  instructed  in  the  knowledge  of  God, 
and  dedicated  to  his  service.  There  is  no  descrip- 
tion of  piety  more  beautiful  or  more  emphatic, 
than  is  contained  in  these  few  words,  "  he  walked 
with  God."  The  age  in  which  he  lived  was  a  cor- 
rupt and  corrupting  age ;  but  he  had  no  sympathy 
with  its  spirit,  its  maxims,  its  habits,  or  its  charac- 
ter. The  men  of  the  world  were  not  his  chosen 
companions ;  he  did  not  walk  with  them ;  he  came 
out  from  the  world  and  "  walked  with  God."  He 
did  not  walk  contrary  to  him,  but  with  him.  The 
native  enmity  of  his  carnal  mind  was  slain ;  God 
was  his  portion,  and  refuge,  and  joy.  There  was 
peace  between  him  and  his  Maker ;  he  was  recon- 
ciled to  all  that  God  is,  and  all  that  he  does ; 
they   could   walk    together,   because    they   were 

5* 


106       THE  FIRST  EXAMPLE  OF  EMINENT  PIETY. 

agreed.  He  was  the  friend  of  God,  and  treated 
God  as  his  friend.  He  was  dutiful  in  his  spirit, 
and  in  his  life  obedient.  His  fellowship  was  the 
Father  and  his  Son,  Jesus  Christ.  Sweet  was  this 
intercourse,  sweet  his  confidence,  and  very  many 
and  precious  were  the  tokens  he  enjoyed  of  the 
divine  favor.  The  Apostle,  in  the  eleventh  chap- 
ter to  the  Hebrews,  affirms  that  "  he  had  this  tes- 
timony that  he  pleased  God." 

If  we  may  rely  on  the  testimony  of  pagan  and 
Christian  authors,  his  memory  was  long  revered, 
not  only  in  the  church  of  God,  but  in  the  pagan 
world.  In  that  early  age,  this  one  man  was  raised 
up  to  exemplify  the  power  of  vital  godliness,  and 
bear  significant  testimony  to  the  efficacy  of  the 
promised  redemption.  Such  was  the  maturity  of 
his  religion,  and  so  distinguished  was  he  for  his  un- 
earthly spirit,  that  he  was  translated  to  the  heav- 
enly world  without  tasting  of  death.  When  we 
now  point  men  to  a  bright  immortality,  we  must 
tell  them  that  it  lies  through  the  grave.  His  high 
privilege  was  to  escape  the  struggle,  to  be  turned 
aside  from  the  dark  valley,  to  travel  above  it,  and 
to  find  his  mortal  swallowed  up  in  his  immortal- 
ity, without  this  conflict  with  the  dread  destroyer. 
u  Enoch  walked  with  God,  and  he  was  not,  for  God 
took  him"  He  was  favored  above  Aaron,  who 
went  up  the  mount  to  die ;  and  above  Moses,  who, 
instead  of  descending  into  the  vale,  died  amid  the 


THE  FIRST  EXAMPLE   OF   EMINENT   PIETY.        107 

mountain  glories  of  Pisgah.  He  walked  with.  God, 
and  was  no  longer  found  in  the  abodes  of  men. 
He  was  not  among  the  living,  nor  was  he  num- 
bered with  the  dead  ;  God  took  him.  His  sojourn 
on  the  earth  was  comparatively  short;  nor  was 
the  ordinary  promise  of  long  life  to  the  virtuous 
and  holy,  verified  in  his  history.  This  privilege 
was  unpromised,  and  altogether  above  and  beyond 
the  region  of  the  promises.  It  was  the  reward  of 
piety,  well  nigh  as  signal  as  his  translation.  God 
took  him  from  the  sins  and  sorrows  of  earth, 
from  its  scoffing  and  hateful  associates,  from 
the  gloom  and  fears  of  death,  and  the  loathsome 
corruption  of  the  grave,  to  his  own  heaven  of 
light  and  love,  to  the  society  of  his  fathers,  to  his 
own  presence  and  joy,  and  to  the  beatific  vision 
of  a  progressively  unfolding  eternity. 

None  of  us  may  hope  for  such  a  dismission 
from  the  scenes  of  earth  as  his ;  yet  ought  we  to 
hope,  and  pray,  and  strive  for  such  a  piety.  We 
should  not  be  Christians,  if  we  did  not  desire  to 
be  like  Enoch ;  nor  should  we  have  the  fitting 
evidence  of  piety,  if  we  aim  not  at  piety  that  is 
eminent.  Ask  a  truly  Christian  man  in  what  he 
takes  the  greatest  delight ;  and  he  will  answer,  the 
service  of  God.  Ask  him  what  he  most  desires ; 
and  he  will  answer,  more  and  greater  conformity 
to  God.  Ask  him  what  he  most  prays  for ;  and 
he  will  tell  you,  it  is  that  I  may  be  delivered  from 


108       THE  FIRST  EXAMPLE  OF  EMINENT  PIETY. 

sin  and  made  holy.  Ask  him  what  the  ardent 
wishes  of  his  heart  are  in  behalf  of  the  church  of 
God  on  the  earth ;  and  he  will  reply,  it  is  that  they 
may  indeed  be  a  peculiar  people,  purified  from  sin, 
and  so  live  that  they  shall  more  honor  Him  who 
called  them  out  of  darkness  into  his  marvellous 
light.  The  first  great  object  of  the  gospel  is  to  bring 
men  to  the  saving  knowledge  of  Christ,  and  then 
make  them  bright,  shining,  and  useful  Christians. 
Piety  is  not  the  growth  of  a  moment.  It  begins 
in  the  soul  when  it  is  born  of  God.  Not  until  the 
love  of  God  is  shed  abroad  in  the  heart  by  the 
Holy  Ghost,  is  any  one  of  our  fallen  race  other- 
wise than  "  dead  in  trespasses  and  sins."  The  ho- 
liness subsequently  produced  is  as  really  the  work 
of  God,  and  differs  not  either  in  its  cause  or  na- 
ture, from  the  holiness  first  imparted.  Wherever 
there  is  pre-eminent  piety,  it  is  "the  work  of 
God's  Spirit,  whereby  we  are  renewed  in  the 
whole  man  after  the  image  of  God,  and  are  en- 
abled more  and  more  to  die  unto  sin  and  live  unto 
righteousness."  Sound  theology  and  Christian 
experience  show,  that  spiritual  life  is,  in  this  re- 
spect, analogous  to  the  life  that  is  natural ;  it  has 
its  infancy,  its  youth,  and  its  full-grown  manhood. 
Just  as  in  the  vegetable  creation,  there  is  the  im- 
plantation of  the  seed,  or  the  insertion  of  the  scion, 
and  then  the  progressive  enlargement  and  growth 
of  the  branch,  the  bough,  the  tree,  till  it  bears 


THE  FIRST  EXAMPLE  OF  EMINENT  PIETY.       109 

fruit,  "  some  twenty,  some  sixty,  some  an  hundred 
fold ;"  so  is  it  in  the  kingdom  of  God. 

When  we  advert  to  the  character  of  good  men, 
as  delineated  in  the  Scriptures,  we  see  that  their 
piety,  though  not  uniformly,  was  really  progres- 
sive. No  man  doubts  that  Abraham  had  attained 
to  higher  degrees  of  holiness,  when  he  ascended 
Mount  Moriah  to  offer  up  his  son,  than  when  God 
first  called  him  from  Ur  of  the  Chaldees ; — or 
that  Moses  had  attained  to  higher  degrees  of  holi- 
ness, when  from  the  summit  of  Pisgah  he  surveyed 
the  promised  land,  than  when  God  at  first  ap- 
peared to  him  in  the  burning  bush  at  Horeb ; — 
or  that  the  great  Apostle  had  made  higher  attain- 
ments in  holiness,  when  just  on  the  eve  of  martyr- 
dom he  exclaimed,  "  I  am  now  ready  to  be  offered, 
and  the  time  of  my  departure  is  at  hand,"  than 
when  he  first  fell  at  Jesus'  feet  on  his  way  to  Da- 
mascus. Who  can  doubt  that  the  piety  of  Pay- 
son,  while  a  student  at  Harvard,  or  an  instructor 
of  the  academy  at  Portland,  bore  no  comparison 
with  that  enviable  state  of  mind,  which  he  en- 
joyed for  several  weeks  before  his  death,  and  of 
which  he  says,  "  The  celestial  city  is  full  in  my 
view.  Its  glories  beam  upon  me ;  its  breezes  fan 
me  ;  its  odors  are  wafted  to  me ;  its  sounds  strike 
upon  my  ears ;  its  spirit  is  breathed  into  my 
heart." 

There  is  a  constancy  of  holy  affection  in  ad- 


110       THE  FIRST  EXAMPLE  OF   EMINENT   PIETY. 

vanced  piety,  which  is  not  discoverable  in  piety  of 
a  feebler  growth.    The  main  difference  between  one 
good  man  and  another  is,  that  one  exercises  gracious 
affections  more  constantly  than  another.     If  the 
gracious  exercises  of  the  renewed  nature  were  not 
so  frequently  suspended,  its  sanctification  would 
be  most  discernible  and  rapid.     Just  in  proportion 
to  the  constancy  of  grace,  is  the  progress  of  grace. 
In  the  same  measure  also  in  which  the  power  of 
true  religion  becomes  constant,  it  becomes  more 
complete;  in  the  progress  of  piety  in  the  soul,  a 
Christian  man  is  more  uniformly  Christian,  and 
manifests  more  and  more  all  the  graces  of  the 
Spirit.     There  is  discoverable  in  advanced  piety  a 
sensible  increase  of  love  to  God  and  love  to  man  ; 
a  more  scrupulous  attention  to  moral  duties,  as 
well  as  religious  observances ;  a  growing  watch- 
fulness and  caution  in  matters  of  great  and  less 
importance ;— all  combined  and  blended  in  the 
exhibition  of  a  character  more  and  more  like  that 
of  Jesus  Christ.     There  may  be  less  that  is  novel 
in  mature  holiness,  but  there  is  less  that  is  tran- 
sient; there  may  be  less  that  is  fervid,  but  there 
is  less  that  is  fluctuating ;  there  may  be  less  ex- 
citability, but  there  is  more  permanency;  there 
may  be  less  that  is  rapturous,  but  there  is  more 
that  is  consistent  and  productive,— more  of  the 
habit  and  principle  of  piety,  and  more  that  is  un- 
wearied in  holy  purposes  and  benevolent  achieve- 


THE   FIRST  EXAMPLE   OF   EMINENT  PIETY.       Ill 

ment.  Piety  also,  as  it  increases  in  constancy  and 
completeness,  increases  in  strength.  The  reason 
why  it  does  not  always  appear  to  increase  in  strength 
is,  that  there  are  seasons  when  it  is  less  associated 
with  mere  animal  excitement.  Subtract  the  animal 
excitement  from  those  vivid  expressions  of  holiness 
which  are  so  common  in  the  career  of  the  youthful 
Christian,  and  then  compare  them  with  the  gra- 
cious affections  of  his  maturer  years ;  and  the  latter 
will  be  found  the  most  vigorous.  Supreme  love 
to  God  in  a  mind  long  habituated  to  the  exercises 
of  piety,  is  a  stronger  and  more. holy  affection 
than  it  is  in  the  same  mind  before  it  is  thus  dis- 
ciplined. Different  degrees  of  constitutional  ar- 
dor and  sensibility  distinguish  different  men ;  but, 
other  things  being  equal,  piety  is  most  vigorous 
and  energetic,  where  it  is  most  constant  and  ma- 
ture. It  is  nourished  and  invigorated  by  its  own 
fixed  and  steady  purposes;  draws  toward  itself, 
and  concentrates  all  the  scattered  affections ;  and 
thus  acquires  an  augmented  vigor  and  ardency. 

In  the  happier  instances  of  pre-eminent  piety, 
you  shall  see  a  man  affectionate  and  humble  in 
his  disposition  and  deportment — discreet  in  his 
conduct,  and  prudent  in  his  opinions — less  and 
less  inordinate  in  his  animal  emotions — more  cau- 
tious in  his  intercourse  with  men — less  rash,  and 
more  forbearing — more  afraid  of  sinning,  and  more 
watchful  against  the  encroachments  of  temptation 


112       THE  FIRST  EXAMPLE  OF   EMINENT  PIETY. 

— more  submissive,  and  more  thankful — more  self- 
denying,  and  yet  more  cheerful  and  happy — more 
patient,  kind,  and  forgiving — less  contentious,  and 
more  peaceful — more  distrustful  of  himself,  and 
more  full  of  confidence  in  God.  He  adds  to  his 
faith  virtue ;  and  to  virtue  knowledge ;  "  and  to 
knowledge  temperance;  and  to  temperance  pa- 
tience ;  and  to  patience  godliness ;  and  to  godliness 
brotherly  kindness;  and  to  brotherly  kindness 
charity."  These  beautiful  characteristics  are  all  so 
blended  and  linked  together,  that  they  act  upon 
one  another  in  harmonious  union,  and  form  one 
heart  and  soul.  And  with  these,  you  shall  dis- 
cover more  enlarged  views  of  God  and  spiritual 
objects — sweeter  and  more  satisfying  views  of  the 
way  of  salvation  by  Jesus  Christ — a  deeper  and 
sweeter  fellowship  with  things  unseen  —  a  more 
thorough  detachment  from  the  world,  and  a  more 
absolute  renunciation  of  sublunary  confidences  and 
created  good — together  with  more  earnest  and  in- 
tense desires  after  holiness,  and  a  more  uneclipsed 
and  transforming  vision  of  the  divine  glory. 

There  is  also  in  such  a  mind  a  sensible  increase 
of  spiritual  enjoyment.  In  the  world  such  a  man 
may  have  tribulation;  yet  is  he  a  most  happy 
man.  He  drinks  at  never-failing  fountains  of  joy, 
and  goes  not  to  earthly  cisterns  to  draw.  He  has 
resources  out  of  and  above  the  world.  There  is 
no  satiety  and  disgust  in  his  enjoyments,  and  no 


THE  FIRST  EXAMPLE  OF  EMINENT  PIETY.       113 

disappointment.  His  cup  is  not  dashed  with  the 
bitterness  of  regret,  nor  mingled  with  the  terrors 
of  apprehension.  His  prospects  may  not  be  cloud- 
less, but  they  are  light  and  gladsome ;  they  may 
not  be  always  brilliant,  but  they  are  calm  and 
peaceful.  Precious  are  his  foretastes  of  the  rest 
that  remaineth  for  the  people  of  God  ;  and  pre- 
cious are  his  views  of  the  glory  to  be  hereafter  re- 
vealed. "  Beholding  as  in  a  glass  the  glory  of  the 
Lord,  he  is  changed  unto  the  same  image,  from 
glory  to  glory,  even  as  by  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord." 

In  regard  to  the  means  by  which  pre-eminent 
piety  is  produced,  several  things  deserve  consider- 
ation. 

It  is  a  principle  of  the  gospel  never  to  be  lost 
sight  of,  that  gracious  affections,  both  in  their  com- 
mencement and  progress,  are  all  exercised  in  view 
of  truth.  "  Sanctify  them  through  thy  truth  /" 
One  of  the  more  obvious  ways  in  which  truth  is 
presented  to  the  mind,  is  the  direct  contemplation 
of  it,  by  the  increase  of  divine  hwwledge.  The 
Apostle  Paul,  in  writing  to  the  Colossians,  says, 
"  We  do  not  cease  to  pray  for  you  and  to  desire 
that  ye  may  be  filled  with  the  knowledge  of  his 
will,  in  all  wisdom  and  spiritual  understanding ; 
so  that  ye  might  walk  worthy  of  the  Lord  unto 
all  pleasing,  being  fruitful  in  every  good  work." 
The  Apostle  Peter  expresses  the  same  sentiment 
when  he  says,  "  Grow  in  grace,  and  in  the  foiowV 


114       THE  FIRST  EXAMPLE  OF  EMINENT  PIETY. 

edge  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  ;■'  and  also  when  he 
enjoins,  "As  new-born  babes  desire  the  sincere 
milk  of  the  word,  that  ye  may  grow  thereby." 
The  knowledge  of  divine  truth  is,  to  the  renewed 
mind,  what  food  is  to  the  body ;  it  is  the  native 
and  proper  aliment  of  every  gracious  affection. 
There  is  high  and  holy  joy  in  a  clear  perception 
of  the  nature,  connections,  consequences,  and  glory 
of  the  truth  of  God.  The  sensations  of  a  devout 
mind  in  the  contemplation  of  divine  truth  are  like 
those  of  a  hungry  man  when  he  sits  down  to  a 
feast;  he  is  fed,'  his  hungering  and  thirsting  after 
righteousness  are  gratified.  Let  him  possess  en- 
larged views  of  God,  and  just  conceptions  of  his 
excellence  and  loveliness;  let  his  thoughts  be 
turned  toward  the  ineffable  glory  of  the  divine 
nature,  as  it  is  manifested  in  the  works  of  creation, 
providence,  and  redemption ;  let  him  dwell  on  the 
glory  of  God  as  it  shines  in  the  face  of  Jesus 
Christ ;  let  him  become  more  and  more  acquaint- 
ed with  the  harmony  and  beauty  of  the  divine  de- 
signs, and  the  great  end  which  God  has  in  view  in 
all  that  he  does ;  and  his  holy  desires  will  be  en- 
kindled and  flow  out,  his  heart  will  become  en- 
larged, his  affections  elevated,  and  his  piety  will 
become  manly.  One  reason  why  Christians  are 
not  more  holy,  is  that  they  do  not  read  and  con- 
verse, and  think  enough  about  the  great  truths  of 
the  Bible.     There  may  be  excitement  and  fervor 


THE  FIRST  EXAMPLE   OF   EMINENT   PIETY.       115 

without  Christian  knowledge ;  but  there  can  be 
little  growing  piety.  By  confining  the  thoughts 
to  a  narrow  circle  of  truths,  the  mind  becomes 
impoverished,  and  its  piety  languid  and  declining ; 
while  if  we  would  raise  the  tone  of  spirituality 
and  devotedness,  we  must  raise  the  standard  of 
Christian  knowledge,  and  become  more  deeply 
imbued  with  the  precious  truths  of  the  gospel.  It 
is  thus  that  the  soul,  instead  of  starving  and  pin- 
ing away,  is  nourished;  it  lives  in  holiness,  and 
is  comforted  in  hope,  and  advances  toward  the 
stature  of  the  perfect  man  in  Christ  Jesus. 

Allied  to  this  direct  and  immediate  contempla- 
tion of  divine  truth,  and  not  less  indispensable  to 
pre-eminent  piety,  is  a  scrupulous  and  sacred  re- 
gard to  the  divine  word  and  ordinances.  So  im- 
portant are  these  to  progress  in  the  divine  life,  that 
they  are  by  common  consent  called  the  means  of 
grace.  They  are  the  great  means  of  instructing  the 
understanding,  rousing  the  conscience,  and  impress- 
ing the  heart.  One  who  regards  them  with  in- 
difference, and  attends  to  them  from  habit  or  curi- 
osity merely,  is  like  the  "  barren  heath  which  does 
not  see  when  good  cometh ;"  while  he  who  attends 
upon  them  with  interest,  with  an  humble  and  do- 
cile spirit,  and  with  desires  that  cannot  be  satisfied 
without  some  sensible  advance  in  holiness,  will 
"  flourish  like  the  palm-tree  and  grow  like  the  ce- 
dar  in   Lebanon."     Under  their   combined   and 


116       THE  FIRST  EXAMPLE  OF  EMINENT  PIETY. 

precious  influence,  the  full  blaze  of  gospel  light 
breaks  in  upon  the  understanding;  the  moral 
sense  is  smitten  with  holy  compunction ;  and  the 
renewed  nature  becomes  gradually  filled  with  all 
the  fulness  of  God.  Just  as  the  intimate  inter- 
course and  correspondence  of  earthly  friends  in- 
creases their  attachment,  so  does  this  fellowship 
with  God  in  his  word  and  ordinances,  increase  the 
love  of  his  people.  We  read  not  a  little  in  the 
Scriptures  of  the  enlargement  and  satisfaction 
which  the  people  of  God  have  ever  found  in  his  own 
gracious  institutions ;  nor  are  our  experience  and 
observation  slow  in  teaching  us  how  often  have  they 
anticipated  in  them  the  enjoyments  of  a  better 
world  !  "  One  thing  have  I  desired  of  the  Lord," 
says  David,  "that  will  I  seek  after,  that  I  may 
dwell  in  the  house  of  the  Lord  all  the  days  of  my 
life,  to  behold  the  beauty  of  the  Lord,  and  to  in- 
quire in  his  temple."  Again  he  gave  utterance  to 
the  thought,  "  How  amiable  are  thy  tabernacles, 
O  Lord  of  hosts !  My  soul  longeth,  yea,  even 
fainteth  for  the  courts  of  the  Lord ;  my  heart  and 
my  flesh  crieth  out  for  the  living  God."  The  pub- 
lic and  private  institutions  of  religion,  the  common 
and  special  ordinances  of  the  gospel,  were  appoint- 
ed for  the  purpose,  not  only  of  awakening  the 
thoughtless,  but  edifying  the  body  of  Christ. 

The  various  dispensations  of  divine  providence 
also  are  made  to  exert  a  powerful  effect  on  the 


THE  FIRST  EXAMPLE  OF  EMINENT  PIETY.       117 

spiritual  character  of  Christians.  All  that  God 
does  for  them,  and  against  them,  he  designs  shall 
work  together  for  their  good ;  and  by  these  dis- 
pensations, he  promotes  their  piety.  Even  their 
prosperity  may  do  this.  There  are  seasons  when 
everything  around  them  is  radiant  and  cheerful. 
The  heavens  and  the  earth  smile  upon  them  with 
unmingled  mercy.  Disease,  death,  suffering,  dis- 
appointment, mortification,  want  and  woe,  in  com- 
mingled and  furious  elements,  desolate  the  hearts 
and  obscure  the  prospects  of  those  around  them ; 
while  no  tempest  beats  upon  their  head,  and  no 
cloud  lingers  in  their  sky.  Even  when  their  hori- 
zon is  for  a  short  period  overcast,  the  light  of 
heaven's  tender  mercy  soon  returns  to  shine  upon 
their  path,  and  everything  is  peaceful  and  joyous. 
Health,  friends,  influence  and  reputation — temporal 
comforts  and  religious  privileges  are  enjoyed  in  an 
abundance,  as  profuse  and  unexpected  as  unde- 
served. It  is  true,  that  unchequered  prosperity  is 
a  snare  to  the  soul,  and  often  proves  the  hottest 
furnace  to  which  the  Christian  graces  can  be  sub- 
jected. But  is  it  not  also  true,  that  "the  goodness 
of  God  leadeth  to  repentance  ?"  Not  unfrequently 
the  deepest  self-abasement,  the  most  unremitted 
diligence,  and  the  most  rapid  attainments  in  spir- 
ituality of  mind  result  from  the  wonderful  exhibi- 
tions of  the  divine  goodness.  The  flinty  and  rug- 
ged heart  is  softened,  and  melts  under  a  view  of 


118       THE   FIRST   EXAMPLE   OF    EMINENT  PIETY. 

God's  loving  kindness ;  the  soul  is  overwhelmed  at 
these  expressions  of  undeserved  mercy ;  is  "  drawn 
by  cords  of  love,"  and  delightfully  constrained  to 
walk  with  God.  It  is  not  always,  it  is  not  usually 
so.  "  He  gave  them  their  request,  but  sent  lean- 
ness into  their  soul,"  is  too  often  the  melancholy 
history  of  the  child  of  God.  Hence  it  is  that  the 
dispensations  of  divine  providence  toward  pious 
men  are  often  fraught  with  severe  and  protracted 
judgments.  Instead  of  smiling,  God  frowns  upon 
them;  he  takes  away  what  he  had  given,  and 
leads  them  into  darkness.  He  visits  them  with 
sickness,  poverty,  or  dishonor ;  he  raises  up  ene- 
mies, or  friends  who  prove  faithless.  By  one  visi- 
tation after  another,  he  breaks  their  hopes  and 
rends  their  hearts.  By  these  painful  dispensa- 
tions, he  rouses  them  from  their  stupidity,  "  makes 
them  know  their  transgressions  and  their  sin," 
gives  them  abiding  impressions  of  their  depend- 
ence, detaches  them  from  the  world,  and  makes 
them  feel  that  they  have  no  resting-place  beneath 
the  sun — no  continuing  city — till  they  become 
possessors  of  that  which  no  vicissitudes  of  time 
can  assail,  and  whose  builder  and  maker  is  God. 
This  is  what  they  need ;  and  such  is  the  discipline 
by  which  God  trains  up  his  children  for  the  heav- 
enly world.  "  I  have  chosen  thee  in  the  furnace  of 
affliction."  Afflictions,  though  sent  for  rebuke  and 
chastisement,  are  tokens  of  God's  love  to  his  people, 


THE  FIRST  EXAMPLE   OF   EMINENT   PIETY.       119 

and  tests  of  their  love  to  him.  "  The  more  self-de- 
nying graces  nourish  only  in  adversity.  Submis- 
sion, patience,  fortitude,  perseverance,  and  detach- 
'ment  from  the  world,  are  not  flowers  of  the  sun; 
they  are  planted  on  the  beetling  cliffs ;  they  are 
watered  by  the  spray  of  the  ocean,  and  flourish 
amid  storms  and  hurricanes."  We  "  glory  in  trib- 
ulation," saith  the  Apostle,  "  knowing  that  tribu- 
lation worketh  patience,  and  patience,  experience, 
and  experience,  hope."  "Every  branch  in  me 
that  beareth  not  fruit,  he  taketh  away ;  and  every 
branch  that  beareth  fruit,  he  purgeth  it  that  it 
may  bring  forth  more  fruit." 

A  very  important  means  of  progressive  piety 
will  also  be  found  in  doing  good.  The  great  law 
of  the  human  mind,  that  both  the  intellectual  fac- 
ulties and  moral  dispositions  are  strengthened  by 
exercise,  is  applicable  to  every  man's  religious  his- 
tory. As  a  stream  preserves  its  purity  and  clear- 
ness by  continually  running,  so  does  the  soul  pre- 
serve its  purity  by  the  flowing  out  of  its  pious 
affections.  It  is  in  self-denying  and  benevolent, 
efforts  that  the  sum  and  substance  of  religion  are 
acted  out.  And  who  does  not  see,  that  by  the 
natural  expressions  of  their  expansive  and  self-de- 
nying benevolence,  good  men  become  more  holy ; 
that  "  he  that  soweth  bountifully,  shall  reap  also 
bountifully;"  that  every  new  accession  of  grace 
becomes  the  means  of  greater  accessions  ?     "  Grace 


120       THE  FIRST  EXAMPLE  OP  EMINENT  PIETY. 

for  grace"  is  the  measure  of  the  divine  bounty. 
The  promise  of  reward  to  benevolent  effort  would 
often  remain  unfulfilled  in  the  present  life,  if  a 
measure  of  that  reward  did  not  consist  in  the  in- 
crease of  spiritual  graces  and  comforts.  Who  has 
not  felt  this  delightful  reaction  upon  his  own  heart  ? 
The  man  who  has  never  found  his  account  in  doing 
good  in  the  increase  of  gracious  affection,  has  yet 
to  discover  one  of  the  grand  secrets  of  progressive 
sanctification. 

It  may  seem,  perhaps,  the  merest  truism  to  add 
to  these  remarks,  that  no  person  can  make  ad- 
vances in  the  divine  life,  without  cautiously  avoid- 
ing sin.  Every  one  who  has  been  in  the  habit  of 
watching  his  own  heart,  has  seen  that  all  sin, 
whether  open  or  secret,  pollutes  the  soul,  and  sep- 
arates it  from  God.  Painful  experience  has  taught 
every  good  man,  that  he  cannot  indulge  himself  in 
sinful  habits,  and  in  wrong  affections  of  heart, 
without  sensible  decline  in  piety.  There  is  one 
thought  which  we  may  here  be  allowed  to  present 
distinctly,  if  not  with  some  urgeney ;  I  allude  to 
the  danger  of  indulging  in  little  sins.  All  such  in- 
dulgence diminishes  and  tends  to  destroy  all  due 
regard  for  God  and  his  law.  The  man  who  allows 
himself  to  disregard  the  divine  authority  in  mat- 
ters of  apparently  minor  consequence,  will  soon 
find  himself  adopting  a  system  of  morality  that  is 
far  removed   from   the   standard   of   the   Bible. 


THE  FIRST  EXAMPLE  OF  EMINENT  PIETY.       121 

When  once  he  ventures  to  make  light  of  the  de- 
cisions of  unerring  wisdom  in  some  particulars  of 
his  conduct,  he  will,  as  a  matter  of  course,  weaken 
that  high  sense  of  respect  for  the  divine  authority 
which  ought  to  be  found  in  the  bosom  of  every 
Christian  man.  He  will  form  a  code  of  morals  for 
himself,  as  pliable  as  his  own  pliable  conscience  ; 
and  by  so  doing,  will  insensibly  narrow  the  sphere 
of  great  sins,  and  extend  the  circle  of  those  that 
are  small.  He  prostrates  the  only  barrier  which 
can  ever  arrest  men  in  the  paths  of  wickedness. 
The  strongest  considerations  which  are  addressed 
to  him  in  order  to  deter  him  from  evil,  become  grad- 
ually effaced  from  his  mind ;  while  his  little  sins, 
by  a  slow  and  gradual,  though  a  very  perceptible 
process,  undermine  those  great  religious  principles 
which  are  the  safeguard  of  the  soul.  In  defiance 
of  all  his  religious  hopes,  the  necessary  effect  of 
them  will  be  the  diminished  force  of  Christian 
principle  in  his  own  mind.  If  the  fear  of  God  and 
the  love  of  his  Son  do  not  govern  him,  nothing 
will  do  it.  No  other  considerations  will  keep  him 
from  profitable  sins,  nor  from  reputable  sins,  nor 
from  secret  sins.  Men  who  indulge  in  little  sins, 
overlook  the  strong  bias  of  the  human  heart  to  eviL 
"Is  thy  servant  a  dog,  that  he  should  do  this 
thing!"  Be  not  over  confident;  you  know  not 
the  abyss  of  wickedness  that  is  in  the  heart  of 
man.     There  must  be  no  ceasing  from  this  conflict, 


122       THE  FIRST  EXAMPLE  OF  EMINENT  PIETY. 

else  is  the  Christian  undone.  Little  do  those  men 
know  themselves  who  think  there  is  any  such 
thing  as  standing  still  in  wickedness.  "  He  that 
trusteth  to  his  own  heart  is  a,  fool."  When  the 
Saviour  taught  us  to  pray  daily,  "Lead  us  not 
into  temptation,"  it  was  because  he  knew  what  is 
in  the  heart  of  man.  Let  the  Christian  be  familiar 
with  thoughts  of  sin  ;  let  him  indulge  himself  in 
the  imaginations  of  sin ;  let  him  throw  himself  in 
the  way  of  temptation  for  nothing  more  than  to 
indulge  his  curiosity  ;  and  he  may  be  abundantly 
thankful  if  he  is  kept  from  falling.  There  is  no 
safety  for  him  but  in  avoiding  little  sins.  With- 
out caution  and  watchfulness  in  this  particular, 
there  is  most  certainly  no  progress  in  the  divine 
life.  Sensual  indulgences  of  every  kind  debase 
the  mind  and  sink  it  below  its  exalted  destiny. 
Luxury,  extravagance,  the  intemperate  enjoyment 
of  any  earthly  good,  obscure  the  moral  vision, 
blunt  the  finest  sensibilities  of  the  soul,  cool  the 
ardor,  and  shake  the  steadfastness  of  its  devotional 
feeling,  and  grieve  the  pure  Spirit  of  God.  Anger, 
wrath,  malice,  and  other  malignant  passions  agi- 
tate the  bosom  and  expel  the  dove-like  virtues. 
A  corroding  solicitude  about  the  world— a  covet- 
ous spirit  keeps  the  mind  in  such  a  state  of  febrile 
perturbation,  that  it  cannot  grow  in  grace.  Van- 
ity too,  and  the  love  of  praise,  pride,  and  desire 
for  pre-eminence,  are  inveterate  foes  of  godliness. 


THE  FIRST  EXAMPLE  OF   EMINENT   PIETY.        123 

Envy  and  contention,  suspicion  and  jealousy,  will 
always  be  found,  to  stupefy  the  conscience,  and  de- 
stroy spirituality.  Every  species  and  form  of  sin 
is  like  the  deadly  fang  of  the  serpent.  It  is  only 
when  good  men  abstain  from  all  appearance  of 
evil,  and  as  much  as  possible  from  all  temptation 
to  it,  that  they  will  be  found  perfecting  holiness 
in  the  fear  of  the  Lord.  It  is  only  when  they 
keep  their  hearts  with  all  diligence,  and  endeavor 
to  suppress  the  incipient  risings  of  iniquity,  that 
they  make  any  sensible  advance  toward  that  state 
of  consummated  purity,  where  they  shall  be  like 
unto  the  angels,  and  holy  as  God  is  holy. 

But  there  are  thoughts  on  this  general  topic  of 
a  different  kind.  In  speaking  of  the  subject  of 
personal  religion,  we  may  not  overlook  the  agen- 
cies by  which  it  is  produced,  and  sustained.  There 
is  no  principle  more  clearly  revealed  in  the  Bible, 
than  that  men  are,  at  the  same  time,  active  and 
passive  in  all  spiritual  progress.  "  Work  out  your 
own  salvation  with  fear  and  trembling,  for  it  is 
God  that  worketh  in  you  to  will  and  to  do  of  his 
good  pleasure."  "  Sanctify  yourselves  therefore, 
and  be  ye  holy ;  for  I  am  the  Lord  who  sanctify 
you."  These  are  remarkable  declarations,  and  sug- 
gest two  important  thoughts. 

Eminent  piety  is  never  produced  in  the  soul  but 
by  the  immediate  agency  of  tlie  Holy  Spirit.  In 
the  order  of  time,  God  moves  first.     He  begins 


124       THE  FIRST  EXAMPLE  OF   EMINENT  PIETY. 

the  work  of  grace  in  the  heart,  and  he  carries  it 
on.  To  begin  it  is  the  work  of  his  new-creating 
power;  he  then  produces  the  first  active  princi- 
ples of  piety  in  the  soul ;  while  in  all  its  subse- 
quent progress,  he  continues  and  sustains  these 
principles.  Paul  says  to  the  believers  at  Philippi, 
"  Being  confident  of  this  very  thing,  that  he  which 
hath  begun  a  good  work  in  you,  will  perform  it 
until  the  day  of  Jesus  Christ."  He  represents 
God  as  "  dwelling  in  the  saints ;"  and  by  this  he 
means  that  he  continues  to  operate  on  their  hearts 
by  the  influences  of  his  Holy  Spirit.  The  same 
great  Giver  is  also  represented  as  "  establishing" 
his  people — as  "  anointing"  them — as  "  sealing 
them" — and  giving  them  the  "  earnest  of  the  Holy 
Spirit."  Of  the  influence  by  which  the  saints  are 
fitted  for  heaven,  it  is  written,  "  Now  he  that  hath 
wrought  us  for  this  self-same  thing  is  God,  who 
hath  also  given  to  us  the  earnest  of  the  Spirit." 

No  degree  of  divine  knowledge,  no  motives,  or 
means  of  grace,  no  manifestation  of  God  in  his 
works,  his  providence,  or  his  word,  no  human  sua- 
sion, or  divine,  have  any  sanctifying  influence 
upon  the  soul,  without  a  divine  energy  produc- 
ing this  effect  in  view  of  the  motives  before  the 
mind.  Though  God  makes  use  of  motives  to  ac- 
complish his  purposes,  he  always  puts  forth  his 
own  divine  agency  to  produce  this  important 
effect,  and  by  his  own  Spirit,  causes  his  people  to 


THE  FIRST  EXAMPLE  OF  EMINENT  PIETY.       125 

press  forward  from  one  degree  of  holiness  to 
another.  When  they  are  favored  with  impres- 
sive and  affecting  views  of  invisible  and  divine 
objects,  it  is  because  God  "lifts  the  light  of  his 
countenance  upon  them,"  and  "  manifests  himself 
to  them  as  he  does  not  to  the  world."  When 
their  affections  are  taken  off  from  this  world  and 
fixed  on  the  world  to  come ;  it  is  not  owing  to 
their  own  independent  reasonings  and  reflections 
upon  the  vanity  and  unsatisfactory  nature  of 
earthly  enjoyments,  but  to  the  influence  of  the 
Holy  Spirit  producing  higher  and  nobler  desires. 
When  they  enjoy  unusual  delight  and  satisfaction 
in  the  word  and  ordinances,  and  anticipate  in  them 
the  sweet  employments  of  a  nobler  world ;  or  when 
they  pant  after  the  heavenly  glory ;  their  satisfac- 
tion and  their  anticipations,  their  every  devotional 
feeling,  and  their  every  season  of  sacred  refresh- 
ment and  vigor,  recognize  God  as  their  Author. 

Nor  is  there  any  sentiment  to  which  good  men 
more  cheerfully  subscribe  than  this.  Listen  to  it 
in  their  prayers:  "Draw  us;  we  will  run  after 
thee."  "Take  not  thy  Holy  Spirit  from  me!" 
Listen  to  it  in  their  grateful  acknowledgments 
and  praises.  "  By  the  grace  of  God  I  am  what  I 
am !"  "  Not  by  works  of  righteousness  which  we 
have  done,  but  according  to  his  mercy  he  saved 
us,  by  the  washing  of  regeneration  and  the  renew- 
ing of  the  Holy  Ghost,  which  he  shed  on  us  abun- 


126       THE   FIRST   EXAMPLE   OF   EMINENT   PIETY. 

dantly  through  Jesus  Christ  our  Saviour."  And  is 
there  not  everything  in  the  experience  of  the  saints 
to  impress,  and  deepen,  and  endear  this  conviction  ? 
Are  they  not  conscious  they  once  possessed  the 
same  natural  aversion  to  holiness  with  other  men  ? 
Have  they  not  painfully  felt,  and  frequently  com- 
plained of  their  insufficiency  of  themselves  to  make 
any  advances  in  holiness  ?  And  when  they  have 
been  sanctified,  have  they  not  possessed  as  strong 
testimony  as  their  own  experience  could  furnish, 
that  when  grace  is  triumphant  and  sin  is  subdued, 
it  is  attributable  to  this  transforming  influence  ? 
There  is  in  the  best  of  men  a  guilty  impotence  to 
spiritual  good,  better  expressed  by  tears  than 
words.  Even  the  renewed  heart  yields  no  fruit 
without  the  continued  influences  of  the  Sun  of 
Righteousness.  No  matter  how  frequent,  and 
powerful,  and  precious  the  means  of  instruction ; 
no  matter  how  affecting  the  appeals  of  divine 
providence ;  of  little  avail  are  they  all,  until  the 
Spirit  of  God  breathes  into  the  soul. 

Nor  is  it  less  true,  on  the  other  hand,  that  all 
this  spiritual  advancement  is  the  advancement  of 
pious  men  themselves,  and  their  own  act.  They 
are  active  in  every  stage  of  it :  it  is  throughout 
the  act  of  the  creature  becoming  more  conformed 
to  God,  and  making  an  unforced  and  spontane- 
ous progress  in  the  spiritual  life.  When  God  re- 
quires his  people  to  "  grow  in  grace1' — to  "  abound 


THE  FIRST  EXAMPLE   OF   EMINENT   PIETY.        127 

in  every  good  word  and  work" — to  "  endure  to  the 
end" — to  be  "faithful  unto  death" — he  requires 
them  to  perform  a  voluntary  service,  and  to  be 
active  in  performing  it.  And  when  they  become 
more  holy,  the  act  is  their  own ;  it  begins,  is  con- 
tinued and  completed  in  their  own  minds,  just  like 
any  other  series  of  mental  acts.  It  is  not  God 
who  makes  them  holy,  in  spite  of  themselves ;  but 
they  themselves  who  become  more  holy  under  his 
gracious  influence.  When  they  exercise  more  con- 
stant, more  uniform,  or  stronger  affections  of  love, 
repentance,  and  self-denial ;  or  perform  deeds  of 
mercy  and  devotion ;  the  act  is  their  own.  They 
themselves  watch  and  pray,  and  follow  on,  and 
mount  upward,  till  they  become  perfect  as  their 
Father  in  heaven  is  perfect. 

These  two  thoughts  should  never  be  separated, 
when  we  speak  of  the  cause  of  pre-eminent  piety.  It 
is  the  voluntary  progress  of  good  men  for  which 
they  are  dependent  on  God ;  and  on  the  strength 
of  their  dependence,  pursue  their  upward  course. 
It  is  God  dwelling  in  them,  and  they  in  him. 
They  themselves  become  holy,  under  the  influence 
of  a  divine  energy  upon  their  minds.  And  there 
is  a  delightful  consistency  in  these  truths.  It 
would  be  illogical  to  argue  against  their  consist- 
ency, because  they  are  made  up  of  plain  facts — 
facts  the  inconsistency  of  which  no  man  has  ever 


128       THE  FIRST  EXAMPLE  OF  EMINENT  PIETY. 

discovered,  either  by  his  own  experience,  his  own 
reason,  or  the  word  of  God. 

What  then  are  some  of  the  motives  to  this  high 
spiritual  attainment?  We  aim  at  low  attain- 
ments in  piety,  because  we  feel  as  though  it  would 
be  presumptuous  for  us  to  aim  at  higher  ;  and  be- 
cause we  have  been  in  the  habit  of  believing  that 
high  attainments  are  impracticable.  But  by  the 
help  of  God,  there  is  no  impossibility  in  com- 
mencing a  spiritual  life  and  in  advancing  in  this 
heavenward  career.  The  same  rational  and  moral 
faculties,  which  render  us  capable  of  one  holy  af- 
fection, render  us  capable  of  another,  and  of  more 
constant,  uniform,  and  vigorous  effort,  and  of  con- 
tinued progress. 

Nor  is  there  anything  in  the  experience  or  his- 
tory of  good  men,  that  discountenances  the  spirit 
of  this  remark.  When  we  advert  to  the  names 
of  David  and  Paul,  of  Owen  and  Howe,  of  Bax- 
ter and  Martyn,  whose  light  will  shine  through  a 
long  line  of  succeeding  generations,  we  may  no 
longer  feel  that  the  children  of  Adam  may  not  be- 
come splendid  examples  of  moral  excellence.  It 
is  a  withering,  an  annihilating  thought,  that  it  is 
impossible  to  imitate,  and  almost  sinful  to  think 
of  emulating  such  examples  as  these.  What  for- 
bids our  saying,  that  it  is  with  spiritual  attainment 
as  it  is  in  every  department  of  human  excellence ; 
and  that  the  more  men  set  their  hearts  upon  it, 


THE   FIRST  EXAMPLE   OF   EMINENT   PIETY.       129 

the  more  they  are  unwearied  in  the  pursuit,  the 
more  humble  and  prayerful  their  exertions,  the 
greater  will  be  their  success?  I  say,  what  for- 
bids it  ?  Is  it  our  dependence  for  holiness  ?  So 
are  we  dependent  for  all  things.  And  what  is 
there  in  our  dependence  that  forbids  hope  ?  What 
evidence  does  it  furnish  of  confidence  in  God, 
where  a  sense  of  dependence  discourages  and  un- 
nerves exertion  ?  It  is  a  serious  error  when  good 
men  make  this  unhallowed  use  of  their  dependence. 
Wicked  men  are  wont  to  employ  this  truth  thus, 
and  to  their  own  destruction  ;  while  it  is  the  priv- 
ilege of  good  men  to  employ  it  for  their  encourage- 
ment in  "forgetting  the  things  that  are  behind." 
There  is  no  humility  in  being  afraid  to  resolve,  that 
by  the  grace  of  God,  we  will  be  eminently  holy,  un- 
less there  be  humility  in  resolving  that  we  will  re- 
main great  transgressors.  It  seems  to  savor  of 
presumption,  that  such  frail  and  polluted  creatures 
as  we  are,  should  venture  to  emulate  the  example 
of  the  best  of  men ;  but  does  it  not  really  savor 
of  presumption,  that  we  should  determine  to  con- 
tinue in  our  present  imperfection  ? 

No  good  man  doubts,  that  to  be  pre-eminently 
devoted  to  God,  is  his  solemn  duty.  God  requires 
it :  "  Be  ye  holy,  for  I  the  Lord  your  God  am  holy — 
This  is  his  will,  even  your  sanctification."  Holi- 
ness consists  in  right  dispositions  and  exercises  of 
heart,  and  in  right  conduct.  It  consists  in  doing 
6* 


130       THE   FIRST   EXAMPLE   OF   EMINENT   PIETY. 

right  from  right  motives ;  and  if  it  is  the  duty  of 
men  to  do  this  in  one  particular,  it  is  their  duty 
in  every  particular,  and  always.  If  it  is  their 
duty  to  love  God,  to  hate  sin,  to  pant  after  holi- 
ness, to  exercise  every  gracious  affection,  and  per- 
form every  gracious  act  at  one  time,  then  is  it 
their  duty  at  all  times.  There  is  no  obligation  in 
the  word  of  God  fortified  by  more  powerful,  or 
urged  by  more  persuasive  considerations,  than  the 
obligation  to  grow  in  grace  ;  and  I  do  not  know 
that  in  the  sight  of  God  there  is  any  deeper  im- 
piety than  indifference  to  this  reasonable  and  sa- 
cred obligation. 

In  all  their  desires  and  efforts  for  progressive 
piety,  also,  the  people  of  God  have  the  promise  of 
divine  assistance.  The  promised  influence  of  the 
Holy  Spirit  does  not,  we  are  free  to  say,  lay  the 
foundation  of  their  obligations  to  advance  in  holi- 
ness ;  and  yet  this  gracious  influence  furnishes  the 
most  happy — nay,  the  only  encouragement  to 
every  desire  and  effort.  Does  God  say  to  his 
people,  "  Wash  you ;  make  you  clean  !"  he  also 
says,  "  Then  will  I  sprinkle  clean  water  upon  you, 
and  ye  shall  be  clean ;  and  from  all  your  filthiness, 
and  all  your  idols  will  I  cleanse  you."  "  Blessed 
are  they,"  says  our  divine  Lord,  "  who  hunger 
and  thirst  after  righteousness ;  for  they  shall  be 
filled?  At  his  triumphant  ascension,  this  Prince 
and  Saviour  led  captivity  captive  and  gave  gifts  to 


THE  FIRST  EXAMPLE   OF   EMINENT   PIETY.        131 

men,  that  the  Lord  God  might  dwell  among  them." 
Before  his  ascension,  he  told  his  disciples,  that 
"he  would  ask  his  Father,  and  he  would  give  them 
another  comforter  that  should  abide  with  them 
forever."  And  now  he  gives  his  people  the  strong- 
est encouragement  to  expect  his  divine  influence. 
"  Ask,"  says  he,  "  and  ye  shall  receive  ;  seek  and 
ye  shall  find ;  knock  and  it  shall  be  opened  unto 
you."  To  enable  his  people  to  fulfil  their  obliga- 
tions, and  to  enable  him  to  fulfil  his  purpose,  he 
will  communicate  his  Spirit  in  such  measures  as 
they  truly  desire,  and  in  every  time  of  need.  We 
greatly  wish  that  this  truth  should  be  appreci- 
ated. There  is  no  other  hope  of  spiritual  advance- 
ment but  this  one  hope.  If  it  be  not  in  God's 
power  to  make  it  possible  and  certain  with  men  to 
walk  with  him,  this  blessed  privilege  must  be  de- 
spaired of.  No  man  ever  made  any  advances, 
without  being  sensible  of  his  dej)endence,  and  go- 
ing forward  in  the  strength  of  the  Lord  God. 
Good  men  trust  not  in  themselves ;  his  promised 
help  is  the  foundation  of  their  confidence  and  their 
prayers.  If  they  cannot  make  advances  of  them- 
selves, and  if  they  cannot  make  them  by  his  gra- 
cious influence,  they  cannot  make  them  at  all. 
They  can  make  them,  because  they  are  "  strong 
in  the  Lord  and  in  the  power  of  his  might."  They 
can  make  them  when  they  turn  from  self  and 
creatures  to  that  grace  which  is   "sufficient   for 


132       THE  FIRST  EXAMPLE  OF  EMINENT  PIETY. 

thein,"  and  to  that  "  strength  which  is  made  per- 
fect in  their  weakness."  They  can  make  them,  for 
they  are  "strong  in  the  grace  that  is  in  Christ 
Jesus."  They  that  "  wait  upon  the  Lord  shall  re- 
new their  strength ;  they  shall  mount  up  on  wings 
as  eagles ;  they  shall  run  and  not  be  weary,  they 
shall  walk  and  not  faint."  Whose  heart  shall  not 
such  truths  animate !  whose  courage  shall  they  not 
inspirit !  Blessed,  blessed,  thrice  blessed  assu- 
rances !  Well  may  the  followers  of  Jesus  dismiss 
their  apathy,  "  give  to  the  wind  their  fears,"  and 
under  the  guardianship  and  patronage  of  such 
power  and  such  promises,  press  onward  till  they 
lay  hold  on  eternal  life. 

The  'personal  advantage  of  high  attainments  in 
piety  is  also  a  motive  which  no  Christian  mind 
will  depreciate.  Enoch  was  safe ;  he  was  happy, 
because  he  walked  with  God.  Men  of  pre-eminent 
piety  are  comparatively  secure  from  the  snares  of 
the  world,  the  flesh,  and  the  devil ;  and  have  the 
best  reason  to  believe  they  shall  be  delivered  from 
reproachful  apostasies.  "Who  is  he  that  will 
harm  you,  if  ye  be  followers  of  that  which  is 
good."  The  Lord  is  with  them  while  they  are 
with  him.  He  never  fails  to  spread  the  wing  of 
his  protection  over  them,  and  shield  them  from 
their  foes. 

In  pre-eminent  piety,  there  is  also  a  perennial 
source  of  the  purest  joy.     We  have  already  re- 


THE  FIRST  EXAMPLE   OF   EMINENT   PIETY.       133 

marked,  that  it  implies  a  happy,  just  in  the  meas- 
ure in  which  it  implies  a  holy  state  of  mind.  If 
a  little  religion  is  the  spring  of  consolations  supe- 
rior to  all  the  pleasures  of  the  world ;  large  meas- 
ures of  it  must  be  an  overflowing  fountain — an 
ocean  of  delight,  The  reason  why  Christians  are 
so  often  sad  and  melancholy,  and  derive  so  little 
comfort  from  piety,  is,  that  their  piety  is  of  so 
slow  and  stinted  a  growth,  and  their  graces  are  so 
feeble  and  languishing.  They  may  make  religion 
the  source  of  few  consolations  or  many ;  they  may 
make  of  it  just  as  little  and  just  as  much  as  they 
choose.  There  is  enough  in  it  to  make  them  su- 
premely happy ;  and  if  they  fail  to  draw  from  it 
all  the  comfort  they  need,  or  all  that  it  can  impart, 
the  fault  is  their  own.  We  know,  alas !  so  little 
of  elevated  piety,  th^,t  we  have  never  proved  its 
joys.  True  happiness  is  to  be  found  only  in  living 
near  to  God.  Here  the  most  enlarged  desires,  be 
they  ever  so  eager  and  grasping,  and  extend  ever 
so  far,  may  be  gratified  without  extravagance, 
without  harm,  and  without  satiety.  This  is  the 
good  for  which  the  soul  was  formed,  and  to  which 
its  exalted  capacities  are  adapted.  "Whom. have 
I  in  heaven  but  thee  ?  and  there  is  none  upon  the 
earth  that  I  desire  beside  thee !" 

The  more  we  are  like  God,  the  more  we  are 
loved  of  him,  and  the  more  significant  are  the  ex- 
pressions of  his  love.     Darkness  and  doubt  em- 


134       THE  FIRST  EXAMPLE  OF   EMINENT  PIETY. 

barrass  the  minds  of  enfeebled  Christians.  "He 
that  followeth  after  me,"  saith  our  divine  Lord, 
"  shall  not  walk  in  darkness,  but  shall  have  the 
light  of  life?  That  peace  and  comfort  of  which 
the  heart  is  so  often  robbed  by  inconstant  affec- 
tions and  besetting  sins ;  that  light  of  God's  coun- 
tenance which  is  so  often  withdrawn,  as  a  neces- 
sary discipline  when  we  depart  from  him,  would 
soon  be  restored  if  the  soul  were  intent  in  the 
pursuit  of  holiness.  And  that  depression  which 
so  often  weighs  down  the  spirit — those  clouds 
which  so  often  hang  over  the  mind — those  temp- 
tations which  are  the  source  of  such  bitter  and 
pensive  anxiety,  would  soon  be  removed  if  the 
heart  were  imbued  with  the  spirit  of  Christ,  and 
absorbed  in  God  as  its  best  and  only  portion. 
Nothing  in  this  miserable  world  would  come  amiss 
if  the  people  of  God  were  more  holy.  They  would 
rejoice  both  to  do  and  suffer  his  will,  and  would 
be  happy  to  live  and  ready  to  die. 

Nor  may  it  be  forgotten,  that  pre-eminent  piety 
is  a  necessary  qualification  for  distinguished  use- 
fulness. The  great  end  for  which  the  people  of 
God  were  created  and  redeemed,  is  attained  in 
proportion  to  their  personal  piety.  Some  Chris- 
tians accomplish  very  little  for  the  honor  of  God 
in  the  world ;  they  are  little  better  than  withered 
vines  in  a  fruit-bearing  and  blushing  vineyard. 
And  but  for  here  and  there  some  solitary  cluster 


THE  FIRST  EXAMPLE  OF   EMINENT  PIETY.       135 

of  grapes  when  the  vintage  is  over,  they  would  be 
cumberers  of  the  ground.  "  Herein  is  my  Father 
glorified,"  saith  our  blessed  Master,  "  that  ye  bear 
much  fruit."  Would  you  put  honor  on  the  name  of 
the  Great  God  your  Saviour  ?  would  you  redeem  the 
pledge  given  to  him  in  your  self-consecration  to  his 
service  ?  would  you  be  more  than  cyphers  in  the 
world  ?  then  will  you  press  toward  the  mark  of  the 
prize  of  your  high  calling.  Many  eyes  are  upon  the 
saints  of  God ;  and  as  you  are  quickened  in  your 
course,  or  become  languid  and  weary,  so  religion  is 
honored  or  disgraced.  You  are  a  spectacle  to  God, 
angels  and  men ;  and  your  fidelity  and  diligence 
will  be  commended  and  approved,  or  your  inert- 
ness and  unconcern  will  be  censured  and  accused. 
O  then,  with  what  unexhausted,  exhaustless  ar- 
dor ought  you  to  run  the  heavenly  race !  With 
what  moral  heroism  ought  you  to  fight  the  good 
fight  of  faith !  With  what  high  and  holy  ambi- 
tion ought  your  bosoms  to  be  fired  in  aiming  at 
the  crown !  There  is  no  danger  of  excess  in  this 
enterprise.  If  pious  men  were  as  active  in  the 
pursuit  of  holiness  as  they  once  were  in  the  pur- 
suit of  other  things,  how  would  they  be  hurried 
forward  from  one  degree  of  grace  to  another — 
how  would  the  glory  of  the  Great  Supreme  be- 
come the  end  of  all  their  conduct — how  would 
the  lustre  of  their  piety  shine  on  this  ungodly 
world — how  would  the  tribute  of  praise  be  brought 


136       THE  FIRST  EXAMPLE  OF   EMINENT  PIETY. 

to  their  redeeming  God  and  King  from  afar — how 
would  they  make  it  manifest  to  the  world,  that 
they  had  not  as  yet  gained  their  object,  and  that 
their  sacred  and  loftiest  desires  were  unsatisfied, 
till  "  Christ  were  magnified  in  them,  whether  it  be 
by  life  or  by  death !" 

Pre-eminent  piety  likewise  ensures  a  large  re- 
ward in  the  future  world.  If  such  is  the  economy 
of  divine  grace,  that  no  holy  act  or  affection  will 
be  hereafter  unrewarded, 'how  immeasurably  ur- 
gent the  motive  to  aim  at  high  spiritual  attain- 
ments !  The  most  holy  man  will  have  the  largest 
capacity  for  joy ;  will  be  the  best  fitted  for  the 
presence  and  service  of  God — for  the  fellowship 
and  society  of  holy  beings — and  for  the  employ- 
ments and  felicity  of  that  spiritual  and  sinless 
state  of  existence.  Enoch  "  was  not,  for  God  took 
him."  "  Whatsoever  a  man  soweth,  that  shall  he 
also  reap."  Every  new  attainment  in  holiness 
here  is  the  commencement  of  a  series  of  causes, 
every  one  of  which,  in  eternal  succession,  is  ele- 
vating in  its  influence  on  the  mind,  and  rich  in  un- 
fading joys.  It  is  true,  there  will  be  no  wandering 
star  in  the  celestial  firmament ;  all  shall  shine  there 
in  the  "  beauties  of  holiness ;"  yet  "  one  star  will 
differ  from  another  star  in  glory,"  and  those  who 
have  shone  the  brightest  here,  will  be  most  bril- 
liant and  move  in  the  largest  orbit  there.  There 
are  methods  within  the  resources  of  his  own  wis- 


THE  FIRST  EXAMPLE  OF  EMINENT  PIETY.       137 

dom  by  which  the  moral  Governor  of  the  universe 
can  express  the  delight  he  takes  in  holiness  in  di- 
rect proportion  to  the  degree  in  which  it  exists  in 
the  soul.  To  some  who  were  eminently  holy  and 
self-denying  men,  Jesus  once  said,  "  I  appoint  unto 
you  a  kingdom,  as  my  Father  hath  appointed  unto 
me ;  that  ye  may  eat  and  drink  at  my  table  in  my 
kingdom."  Some  there  will  be  who  will  "  sit  on 
thrones,  judging  the  twelve  tribes  of  Israel."  As 
it  is  impossible  for  us  to  predict  all  the  ruinous 
effects  of  sin,  as  they  are  indefinitely  diffused  and 
extended  throughout  eternity ;  so  we  know  not  all 
the  happy  effects  of  holiness,  diffusing  and  extend- 
ing themselves  immeasurably  and  forever.  As 
the  most  sinful  man  will  be  the  most  miserable,  so 
the  most  holy  man  will  be  the  most  happy. 

Who,  then,  will  have  respect  to  this  ineffably 
high  reward  ?  Who  will  stretch  forth  his  desires 
for  this  infinite  recompense  ?  Who  will  fix  his  eye 
on  the  brightest  jewel  in  heaven's  diadem  ?  Whose 
bosom  will  glow  with  irrepressible  desire  for  the 
purest  pearl  in  the  crown  of  righteousness  ? 

Christian !  you  were  elected  to  be  holy.  You 
were  redeemed  to  be  holy.  You  were  called 
to  be  holy.  The  choicest  purposes  of  heaven's 
love  are  realized  in  the  pre-eminent  piety  of  the 
church  of  God.  Christ  loved  it,  and  gave  himself 
for  it,  that  "  he  might  sanctify  and  cleanse  it." 
And  when,  by  the  various  dispensations  of  his 


138       THE  FIRST  EXAMPLE  OF  EMINENT  PIETY. 

providence  and  grace,  he  shall  have  purged  away 
its  dross,  it  shall  be  presented  before  him  glorious 
in  holiness,  "  without  spot,  or  wrinkle,  or  any  such 
thing." 

"  Having  therefore  these  promises,  let  us  cleanse 
ourselves  from  all  filthiness  of  the  flesh  and  the 
spirit,  perfecting  holiness  in  the  fear  of  the  Lord." 
Excel  in  holiness.  Live  no  longer  at  "  this  poor, 
dying  rate."  If  you  fear  God  and  love  his  Son ;  if 
you  have  an  enlightened  and  tender  conscience ;  if 
you  know  anything  of  the  blessedness  of  being 
like  your  Divine  Master,  and  of  being  constrained 
by  his  love ;  you  will  long,  and  pray,  and  pant 
after  still  greater  similitude,  and  never  be  satisfied 
till  you  "  awake  in  his  likeness." 

And  is  all  this  nothing  to  those  of  my  readers 
who  live  without  God  and  without  hope  ?  Why 
is  it  that  they  live  without  hope,  but  that  they 
live  without  God  in  the  world  ?  There  it  stands 
engraven  on  the  foundations  of  the  Heavenly  City, 
"Without  holiness,  no  man  shall  see  the  Lord." 
All  others  are  without  the  gates  of  the  New  Jeru- 
salem.    "  The  pure  in  heart  shall  see  God." 


CHAPTER    XIX. 
$|j  fh$\  Jhfinition  nf  Initio  iinfuliUBS. 

It  is  one  thing  to  describe  human  sinfulness,  and 
another  to  define  it.  We  describe  it,  when  we  fur- 
nish illustrations  of  it,  when  we  speak  of  its  nature 
or  properties,  and  when  we  represent  it  by  its  re- 
semblance to  other  things ;  we  define  it,  when  we 
so  describe  it  that  it  cannot  be  mistaken,  and  show 
wherein  it  differs  from  other  things  which  it  re- 
sembles. 

Next  to  just  views  of  God,  just  views  of  the 
morally  depraved  character  of  man,  are  essential 
to  the  knowledge  of  divine  truth.  There  is  no 
doctrine  more  important  to  a  scriptural  theology 
and  a  scriptural  piety,  than  the  truth  which  the 
Scriptures  reveal  in  relation  to  the  character  of 
man  prior  to  his  conversion.  It  stands  among 
the  first  things  which  God  has  so  distinctly  re- 
vealed. 

One  reason  why  he  left  the  family  of  man  with- 
out a  written  revelation,  during  the  patriarchal 


140     THE  FIRST  DEFINITION  OF  HUMAN  SINFULNESS. 

age,  and  "without  those  specific  laws  and  numerous 
restraints  imposed  upon  them  in  subsequent  ages, 
and  without  those  tokens  of  his  displeasure  which 
ultimately  cut  off  almost  the  entire  population  of 
the  earth ;  was  to  give  the  human  heart  the  op- 
portunity of  acting  itself  out,  of  developing  its  true 
character,  and  of  showing  the  obduracy,  strength, 
and  growth  of  its  wickedness.  The  experiment 
was  full,  and  the  lessons  to  be  derived  from  it  are 
such  as  may  never  be  forgotten.  The  sun  shone 
brightly ;  the  blessings  of  providence  were  show- 
ered down  on  every  side  ;  the  wise  gloried  in  their 
wisdom,  the  rich  in  their  riches,  and  the  mighty  in 
their  might.  Men  everywhere  walked  in  the  ways 
of  their  hearts,  and  in  the  sight  of  their  eyes.  The 
proud  were  happy,  and  the  men  of  violence  and 
blood  triumphant.  The  most  enviable  comforts 
were  reserved  for  the  proudest  heart ;  the  highest 
honors  for  the  most  flagitious  life ;  the  most  re- 
markable deliverances  for  the  most  irreverent  and 
presumptuous.  "  The  earth  was  corrupt  and  filled 
with  violence  ;  for  all  flesh  had  corrupted  his  way 
upon  the  earth."  They  filled  up  the  measure  of 
their  iniquity,  and  treasured  up  to  themselves 
wrath  against  the  day  of  wrath.  They  were  left, 
in  no  small  degree,  to  themselves,  and  at  liberty 
to  act  as  they  pleased.  And  most  fully  did  they 
discover  their  true  character,  and  show  what  was 
in   their  hearts.     Giant  sinners  they  were,  and 


THE  FIRST  DEFINITION  OF  HUMAN  SINFULNESS.     141 

men  mighty  and  renowned  for  wickedness.  And 
not  until  this  melancholy  development  was  made, 
was  that  memorable  sentence  written,  the  force 
of  which  no  philosophy  has  been  able  to  pervert, 
no  criticism  to  fritter  away,  and  no  false  and 
smooth  theology  to  pare  off:  uAnd  God  saw 
that  the  wickedness  of  man  was  great  in  the 
earth,  and  that  every  imagination  of  the  thoughts 
of  his  heart  was  only  evil  continually."  We  have 
nothing  to  do,  but  honestly  and  faithfully  analyze 
this  definition,  in  order  to  have  some  just  concep- 
tions of  human  wickedness,  and  of  the  natural 
heart. 

The  first  remark  we  make  concerning  it  is,  that 
this  is  the  view  of  man's  fallen  nature,  as  it  is 
presented  to  the  eye  of  God.  It  were  no  mar- 
vel that  men  do  not  take  this  view  of  themselves, 
or  of  one  another.  They  are  not  wont  to  take  a 
just  view  of  their  own  character ;  nor  is  it  an  easy 
thing  for  them  so  to  do.  We  read  of  one  whose 
prayer  was,  "  Lord,  make  me  to  know  my  trans- 
gression and  my  sin  !"  There  are  obstacles  to  be 
surmounted  in  becoming  acquainted  with  them- 
selves, so  great,  that  it  requires  even  more  than 
the  ordinary  lights  of  truth  and  conscience  to  make 
this  honest  disclosure.  The  Saviour  has  taught  us 
that  "  when  he,  the  Spirit  of  truth,  is  come,  he  will 
convince  the  world  of  sin."  To  nothing  are  men 
more  blind  than  to  the  abominations  of  the  human 


142     THE  FIRST  DEFINITION  OF  HUMAN  SINFULNESS. 

heart ;  nor  are  there  any  impressions  which  they 
stifle  and  resist  more  vigorously  than  those  which 
give  them  just  conceptions  of  themselves. 

We  do  not  suppose  that  any  other  being  in  the 
universe  would  have  given  such  a  picture  of  the 
human  character  as  is  here  furnished,  except  that 
God  who  searches  the  reins  and  tries  the  hearts 
of  men.     The  characters  of  men  are  not  concealed 
from  him  ;  he  sees  that  the  picture,  dark  as  it  is,  is 
true  to  the  life.    It  is  not  God  who  caricatures  men 
by  representing  them  better  than  they  are.    They 
are  men  who  daub  with  untempered  mortar,  and 
speak  smooth  things,  because  they  are  partial,  and 
seek  to  please  men,  and  do  not  look  on  the  heart. 
God  knows  and  sees  all  things  ;  it  is  the  heart  that 
he  looks  at,  as  well  as  the  outward  deportment ;  nor 
is  his  judgment  ever  wrong  or  perverted.     He  has 
no  mistaken  views  of  the  human  character ;  nor 
does  he  ever  form  a  false  or  extravagant  estimate. 
There  is  no  secret  place  where  the  workers  of  ini- 
quity may  hide   themselves   from   his   searching 
scrutiny.     No  knowledge  and  no  ignorance,  no 
original  or  incurred  obligations,  no  station  in  so- 
ciety and  no  influence  however  acquired,  no  cir- 
cumstances which  render  human  wickedness  more 
or  less  aggravated,  escapes  his  notice.     Whatever 
gives  character  to  it,— whether  it  be  the  motive, 
the  deed,  the  time,  the  place,  the  manner,  the 
struggles  of  conscience  resisted,  the  admonitions 


THE  FIRST  DEFINITION  OF  HUMAN  SINFULNESS.     143 

disregarded,  the  barriers  broken  through — all  is 
accurately  observed  by  him  who  weigheth  the 
actions  of  men.  Desires  of  wickedness  that  are 
never  gratified  ;  purposes  of  iniquity  that  are  never 
accomplished ;  iniquity  that  is  prevented  by  the 
restraints  of  his  providence  ;  iniquity  that  is  em- 
barrassed by  a  sense  of  shame,  and  by  the  fear  of 
its  consequences  ;  is  all  written  in  the  book  of  his 
omniscience,  as  with  a  pen  of  iron  and  the  point 
of  a  diamond.  Whatever  views  men  may  take  of 
their  own  character,  and  whatever  views  they  may 
preach  from  the  pulpit,  or  publish  to  the  world 
through  the  press ;  and  however  they  may  deceive 
and  mislead  their  fellow-men  by  them ;  they  cannot 
practise  this  deception  upon  God.  He  has  a  full 
view  of  their  wickedness,  both  present  and  past. 
Men  sometimes,  by  some  sudden  flash  of  con- 
science, or  some  unlooked-for  lifting  of  the  veil 
from  their  hearts,  see  their  own  sins;  but  they 
easily  forget  these  impressions.  Even  those  who 
are  most  impartial  in  their  self-inspection,  most 
faithful  in  their  scrutiny,  and  most  patient  in  their 
retrospection,  remember  but  a  very  small  part  of 
the  numerous  transgressions  of  which  they  have 
been  guilty.  Memory  sometimes  runs  back  and 
alights  upon  some  particular  sin,  the  image  of 
which  haunts  the  imagination ;  the  remembrance 
of  one  sin  sometimes  leads  to  the  recollection  of 
others,  till,  by  those  laws  of  association  which  in- 


144     THE   FIRST  DEFINITION   OF  HUMAN   SINFULNESS. 

fluence  the  mind,  the  gloomy  path  and  the  black 
recesses  of  wickedness  are  laid  open ;  and  in  such 
a  retrospect,  the  conscience  feels  a  burden  which 
it  is  impossible  to  throw  off  but  by  throwing  a 
cloud  of  oblivion  upon  the  past.  But  the  affecting 
spectacle  is  always  present  to  the  divine  mind. 
To  his  view,  with  whom  a  thousand  years  are  as 
one  day,  the  sins  of  the  past  are  like  the  sins  of 
yesterday.  To  no  being  in  the  universe  is  the  his- 
tory of  human  wickedness  so  perfectly  known. 
He  himself  was  the  writer  of  that  history  for  nearly 
four  thousand  years ;  while  his  providence  has 
written  it  from  the  fall  of  man  to  the  present  hour. 
In  discussing  the  doctrine  of  man's  moral  depravity, 
therefore,  our  appeal  must  be  to  what  God  him- 
self has  written. 

The  next  remark  is  that  the  wickedness  of  man 
is  great  wickedness.  "  God  saw  that  the  wicked- 
ness of  man  was  great  in  the  earth."  It  is  always 
great ;  great  in  its  nature,  even  where  the  overt- 
expressions  of  it  are  not  marked  with  high  de- 
grees of  enormity,  The  mere  fact  that  it  is  com- 
mitted against  God,  is  a  transgression  of  his  law, 
and  assumes  the  character  and  position  of  revolt 
against  his  lawful  authority,  renders  it  "  exceed- 
ingly sinful."  The  spirit  from  which  it  originates 
is  the  most  vile,  reckless,  and  selfish  spirit  in  the 
universe,  and  is  enough  to  stamp  it  with  infamy. 
It  is  a  deceitful  and  malignant  spirit ;  the  poison 


THE   FIRST  DEFINITION   OF  HUMAN  SINFULNESS.      145 

of  asps  is  under  its  lips,  and  its  mouth  is  full  of 
cursing  and  bitterness.  Jesus  Christ,  with  all  his 
characteristic  meekness  and  mildness,  when  ad- 
dressing wicked  men,  speaks  of  them  as  "  serpents 
and  a  generation  of  vipers,"  and  declares  that  they 
"are  of  their  father,  the  devil,  and  the  lusts  of 
their  father  they  will  do." 

If  we  advert  also  to  the  various  forms  which  it 
assumes,  and  the  numerous  ways  in  which  it  is  ex- 
pressed, we  cannot  avoid  the  conclusion  that  it  is 
great  wickedness.  It  is  radical  atheism;  "The 
fool  hath  said  in  his  heart,  there  is  no  God."  It 
is  enmity  against  God ;  this  the  Scriptures  declare 
to  be  the  characteristic  of  every  "  carnal  mind." 
It  is  forgetfulness  of  God ;  "  of  the  Kock  that  be- 
gat thee,  thou  art  unmindful,  and  hast  forgotten 
the  God  that  formed  thee."  It  is  disregard  of 
God;  for  it  "sets  at  naught  all  his  counsel,  and 
would  none  of  his  reproof."  It  is  bold  and  impu- 
dent ;  for  it  "  casts  his  law  behind  its  back,"  and 
"  provokes  him  to  anger  continually  to  his  face." 
There  is  no  expression  of  ingratitude  with  which 
it  is  not  familiar ;  God's  complaint  against  men  is, 
that  "  he  has  nourished  and  brought  them  up  as 
children,  but  they  have  rebelled  against  him."  It 
is  stupid  and  brutish ;  "  wise  to  do  evil,  but  to  do 
good  it  has  no  knowledge."  It  "  gropes  in  the 
dark,"  and  makes  men  "  stagger,  like  a  drunken 
man."     It  is  "like  the  deaf  adder  that  stoppeth 

VOL.  II. — 7 


146     THE  FIRST   DEFINITION  OF  HUMAN  SINFULNESS. 

her  ear ;"  it  "  loves  simplicity,"  and  "  delights  in 
its  scorning ;"  it  "  hates  knowledge  and  knows  not 
at  what  it  stumbles ;"  it  "  loves  darkness  rather 
than  light,  because  its  deeds  are  evil ;"  and  it  "  re- 
ceiveth  not  the  things  of  the  Spirit  of  God,  be- 
cause they  are  foolishness  to  it,  neither  can  it 
know  them  because  they  are  spiritually  discerned." 
It  is  deceitful  and  hypocritical ;  "  speaking  peace 
when  mischief  is  in  its  heart,"  "  feeding  on  ashes," 
"  holding  fast  deceit,"  "  hardened  through  the  de- 
ceitfulness  of  sin,"  "  waxing  worse  and  worse,  de- 
ceiving and  being  deceived." 

If  we  fix  our  thoughts  upon  deeds  of  wickedness 
the  most  vile  and  cruel,  the  most  malignant  and 
despiteful,  the  most  implacable  and  unmerciful,  the 
most  expressive  of  diverse  lusts  and  pleasures,  the 
most  sensual,  the  most  excessive,  and  the  most  dev- 
ilish ;  we  find  them  all,  in  all  their  atrocious  and 
sickening  forms,  among  the  deeds  predicated  in 
the  Scriptures  of  the  heart  of  man.  Idolatry,  with 
all  its  concomitant  vices  and  corruptions — Sabbath- 
breaking,  with  all  its  negligence,  its  abuses,  its 
contempt  of  the  sanctuary  and  its  secret  sins — the 
crushing  severity  of  parents  toward  their  children, 
and  the  wilful  disobedience  of  children  to  their 
parents — murder  with  its  blackest  horrors,  and 
war  with  its  fiercest  devastations — licentiousness 
with  its  degrading  associations,  and  its  abysses  of 
ignominy — covetousness,  dishonesty,  and  fraud — 


THE  FIRST  DEFINITION  OF  HUMAN  SINFULNESS.     147 

lying  lips  and  a  slanderous  tongue — all  that  tram- 
ples under  foot  the  laws  of  God  and  man,  with  all 
that  is  subversive  of  the  best  interests  of  men  for 
time  and  eternity ;  are  but  the  indices  of  the  great 
wickedness  that  finds  its  place  and  is  nurtured  in  the 
heart  of  man.  What  scenes  of  moral  depravity 
present  themselves  to  view,  when  we  look  upon  the 
world  around  us  !  Were  the  being  who  is  the  per- 
petrator of  such  deeds  of  wickedness,  to  act  without 
disguise,  concealment,  or  restraint;  what  proofs 
would  he  not  furnish  of  surpassing  wickedness,  and 
how  far  short  of  that  spirit  and  those  deeds  of 
evil  which  are  now  found  only  in  the  abodes  of 
the  devil  and  the  damned,  would  be  the  ordinary 
deeds  of  men !  Or,  if  from  these,  we  look  at  a 
different  class  of  sins,  and  turn  our  thoughts  to  the 
neglect  and  rejection  of  the  glorious  gospel  of  the 
ever-blessed  God ;  what  proof  do .  they  furnish  of 
great  wickedness  !  Mark  the  lightness  and  uncon- 
cern with  which  the  mass  of  men  in  Christian  lands 
treat  the  claims  of  Christian  piety.  Listen  to  the 
sneers  of  infidelity,  and  to  the  contemptuous  mer- 
riment of  those  who  are  not  infidel ;  observe  the 
profane  ribaldry  with  which  men  regard  the  reli- 
gion of  the  Son  of  God  and  its  divine  Author ;  and 
how  convincing  the  proof  that  such  persons  are 
guilty  of  great  wickedness.  Observe  too  the  mul- 
titudes who,  while  they  outwardly  respect  the 
claims  of  this  salvation,  refuse  to  accept  it,  and 


148     THE  FIRST  DEFINITION  OF   HUMAN   SINFULNESS. 

will  not  come  to  Jesus  Christ  that  they  might  have 
life.  Whence  this  aversion  to  that  which  is  full 
of  truth  and  grace  ?  Why  is  it  that  men  turn  away 
from  that  which  is  so  lovely,  pure,  glorious,  that 
angels  stoop  clown  in  admiration  of  its  beauty  and 
excellence  ?  Man  surely  must  be  a  strangely  de- 
praved being,  thus  to  turn  away  from  that  which 
every  holy  and  virtuous  mind  in  the  universe  de- 
lights in.  Sin  men  can  practise  with  greediness ; 
evil  courses  they  can  pursue ;  but  to  turn  from 
evil,  to  welcome  the  grace  that  would  rescue  them 
from  this  bondage  of  iniquity  and  death,  they  have 
no  heart.  And  what  do  these  things  demonstrate, 
but  that  the  wickedness  of  man  is  great  in  the 
earth ;  that  his  moral  tendencies  are  on  the  side 
of  sin,  and  the  natural  current  of  his  mind  is  down- 
ward, and  not  easily  resisted  ? 

There  are  also  several  characteristics  of  human 
wickedness  which  confirm  these  general  views. 
One  of  these  is  the  strength  and  vigor  of  men's 
evil  propensities.  In  the  emphatic  language  of 
the  prophet,  the  heart  of  man  is  "desperately 
wicked."  It  is  deeply  imbedded  wickedness. 
It  grows  with  the  growth  of  the  intellectual  and 
physical  faculties,  and  strengthens  with  their 
strength.  It  is  the  master  power  of  the  soul,  and 
rules  it  with  despotic  sway.  It  blinds  the  under- 
standing, perverts  the  conscience,  corrupts  and 
bribes  the  memory,  pollutes  the  imagination,  and 


THE  FIRST  DEFINITION  OF  HUMAN  SINFULNESS.     149 

makes  the  man  a  slave  to  sin.  He  is  in  the  gall 
of  bitterness  and  the  bonds  of  iniquity.  The  Scrip- 
tures speak  of  the  strength  and  intensity  of  human 
wickedness  in  no  measured  terms.  Our  Lord  told 
the  unbelieving  Jews,  that  "  they  were  of  their 
father  the  devil,  and  the  lusts  of  their  father  they 
would  do."  He  told  them  "  they  were  serpents  and 
a  generation  of  vipers."  Nor  is  the  human  heart, 
all  the  world  over,  by  nature,  any  too  good  to 
incur  this  opprobrium.  Paul  says  of  the  heart 
of  every  unrenewed  man,  that  "  it  is  enmity  against 
God."  It  possesses  no  such  mildness  and  inoffen- 
siveness  as. men  frequently  natter  themselves  exists. 
Wickedness  is  in  its  nature  strong  and  vigorous.  It 
is  difficult  to  conceive  of  stronger  principles  of  ac- 
tion, than  dwell  in  the  bosom  of  every  unrenewed 
man,  when  once  they  are  incited.  The  human  heart 
has  nothing  luithin  itself  to  suppress  the  most  vig- 
orous and  fearful  expressions.  It  will  always  ex- 
press any  degree  of  wickedness  for  which  it  discov- 
ers sufficient  inducements,  if  not  prevented  by  the 
restraining  grace,  or  the  restraining  providence  of 
God.  Esau  would  have  slain  Jacob,  but  for  this  re- 
straint. Cataline  would  have  slaughtered  Cicero 
and  the  Roman  senate;  Napoleon  would  have  added 
to  slaughtered  armies  still  greater  slaughters,  had 
not  the  providence  of  God  restrained  his  sword. 
Conspiracy  upon  conspiracy,  well  matured  in  the 
heart  of  man,  would  have  been  accomplished  in 


150     THE  FIRST  DEFINITION  OF  HUMAN  SINFULNESS. 

deeds  of  blood  and  fire,  but  for  the  restraints  of  a 
higher  power.  It  ever  has  been,  and  still  is  the  high 
prerogative  of  God  to  "  restrain  the  wrath  of  man." 
Both  good  men  and  bad  would  have  committed  a 
thousand  acts  of  wickedness  where  they  have 
committed  one,  had  not  God  controlled  and  re- 
strained their  hearts.  Many  an  amiable  and 
moral  man  who  has  indignantly  repelled  the 
charge  that  he  hated  God,  has  afterwards  been 
brought  to  see  that  he  had  a  heart  that  could 
hate  him.  Many  a  man  who  has  revolted  at 
crimes  committed  by  his  fellow-men,  has  after- 
wards found,  when  circumstances  an,d  motives 
favored  the  deed,  that  his  own  heart  was  none  too 
good  to  perpetrate  the  same  enormities.  Many  a 
man,  who  like  the  king  of  Israel,  when  the  prophet 
disclosed  his  future  wickedness,  has  exclaimed,' "  Is 
thy  servant  a  dog,  that  he  should  do  this  thing  /" 
has  afterwards,  like  this  self-deluded  monarch, 
practised  the  very  enormities,  from  the  prospect 
of  which  he  once  shrunk  with  horror. 

And  what  do  these  things  teach  us,  but  that 
there  is  a  strength  as  well  as  an  extent  of  corrup- 
tion within  the  heart  of  man  that  is  of  the  most 
alarming  character.  The  heart  of  man  was  no  worse 
in  the  days  of  Herod,  and  Pontius  Pilate,  and  Nero, 
than  it  is  now.  Wicked  men  do  not  need  more  wick- 
ed hearts  than  they  have,  to  conduct  themselves  just 
as  the  greatest  prodigies  of  wickedness  have  done 


THE   FIRST  DEFINITION  OF  HUMAN   SINFULNESS.     151 

before  them.     You  cannot  name  a  sin  so  vile,  but 
it  has  been  engendered  in  the  heart  of  man,  man's 
hand  has  perpetrated  it.     It  is  a   point  of  easy 
demonstration,  that   men   have   hearts   that   are 
capable  of  deliberate  wickedness  of  the  highest 
aggravation.     Nothing  is  too  desperate  for  them 
to  devise  and  perpetrate.     Is  there  a  sin  which 
blinds   the   understanding,  sears   the   conscience, 
pollutes  and  stupefies  the  senses,  and   ruins   the 
soul;   the  heart  of  man   has   committed  it.      Is 
there  a  crime  so  great  as  to  expose  its  perpetra- 
tors to  ignominy,  exile,  and  death  from  their  fel- 
low-men;  the  history  of  man  is  the   history  of 
such  crimes.     Is  there  iniquity  so  great  that  God 
will   not  forgive  it  either  in  this  world,  or  the 
world  to  come ;  very  often  have  men  committed 
it.     Are  there  crimes  which  eye  hath  not  seen, 
nor  ear  heard,  and  which  have  been  known  only 
to  the  all-seeing  God  ?     Ten  thousand  times  ten 
thousand  such  crimes  have  been  treasured  up  in 
the  human  heart.     The  history  of  the  sinner's  life 
would  fill  him  with  amazement  and  dismay ;  but 
what  would  be  his  dismay,  if  "  the  unwritten,  se- 
cret  history  of  his  heart"  should  be  disclosed? 
Which  of  us  would  consent  to  have  the  history  of 
his  desires  and  thoughts  read  out  before  the  world? 
Never  after  such  a  disclosure  would  it  again  be 
doubted  that  the  wickedness  of  man  is  great.     It 
is  a  view  of  man's  wickedness  that  shocks  us,  and 


152     THE  FIRST  DEFINITION  OF  HUMAN  SINFULNESS. 

one  that  is  almost  incredible,  when  we  say,  in  so- 
ber earnest,  that  the  difference  between  wicked 
men  on  earth  and  wicked  men  in  hell  is,  that  here 
in  this  world  of  hope,  and  mercy,  the  exercises 
of  the  depraved  heart  are  controlled  and  sup- 
pressed ;  and  there,  in  that  world  of  despair  and 
wrath,  they  are  ungoverned  and  acted  out.  All 
doubt  will  soon  vanish.  The  world  of  disembodied 
spirits  will  soon  tell  who  among  us  have  a  heart 
that  is  desperately  wicked,  and  are  vessels  of 
wrath  fitted  to  destruction. 

Another  characteristic  of  man's  heart  consists  in 
the  obduracy  and  determination  of  its  wickedness. 
"We  can  conceive  of  wickedness  which  is  to  the 
last   degree   vigorous  and  intense;  but   then   it 
may  not  be  so  unyielding  and  determined  as  to 
resist,  and,  with  unconquerable  obstinacy,  every 
possible  inducement   to   holiness.     Yet,  if  there 
be  a  truth  that   is  clearly  taught  in  the  Scrip- 
tures, it  is  that  the  wickedness   of  the   human 
heart  is  such  that  it  is  insuperable  by  any  finite 
power.     The  Scriptures  represent  it  as  a  "  heart 
of  stone."     They  affirm  that  the  wicked  are  "  hard- 
hearted," and  "stout-hearted  and  far  from  right- 
eousness."   They  do  indeed  speak  of  the  subjuga- 
tion of  its  obstinacy  and  stoutness ;  but  it  is  not 
by  the  might,  nor  power  of  man.     They  speak  of 
its   voluntary   and   cheerful    surrender   to   Jesus 
Christ,  but  it  is  by  the  "  exceeding  greatness  of 


THE  FIRST  DEFINITION  OF  HUMAN  SINFULNESS.     153 

that  power  which  God  wrought  when  he  raised 
him  from  the  dead."  They  speak  of  its  sub- 
mitting to  God ;  but  it  is  only  when  made  will- 
ing and  in  the  day  of  divine  power.  Deep  is  the 
shadowing  here  given  of  the  human  character. 
What  exceeding  sinfulness,  and  what  strange  and 
unaccountable  wilfulness  of  depravity  is  that 
which  is  open  to  no  successful  attack,  till  sub- 
dued by  Almighty  grace  !  Instruct  a  wicked  man 
in  all  the  principles  of  revealed  religion ;  set  before 
his  mind  the  unreasonableness  of  his  conduct; 
furnish  him  with  every  conceivable  consideration 
to  diminish  the  extent  or  weaken  the  vigor  of  his 
iniquity :  and  it  is  all  to  no  effect.  No  light  of 
truth, will  subdue  his  determined  heart;  the  more 
he  sees  and  knows,  the  more  vigorously  does  hfi 
resist  and  rebel.  Set  before  him  the  infinite  au- 
thority of  the  God  he  has  provoked ;  and  he  shall 
tremble  under  the  weight  of  it,  but  he  will  not 
turn  and  live.  Allure  him  by  the  divine  goodness 
and  mercy ;  and  the  goodness  of  God  does  not  lead 
him  to  repentance.  Set  before  him  the  fulness 
and  all-sufficiency  of  the  mighty  Saviour,  the 
promises  and  invitations  of  his  gospel,  and  the 
glories  of  God's  right  hand ;  and  no  tenderness  of 
Jesus's  love,  no  hope  of  pardon,  no  fellowship  of  the 
saints,  or  joys  of  heaven,  will  allure  his  obdurate 
heart.  It  has  a  determination  of  purpose  which 
nothing  earthly  can  change.  Such  is  his  obdu- 
7* 


154     THE  FIRST  DEFINITION  OF  HUMAN  SINFULNESS. 

racy,  that  he  cannot  come  to  Christ,  unless  the  Fa- 
ther draw  him.  Probe  his  conscience,  and  make 
him  tremble ;  unman  his  fortitude,  and  make  him 
weep,  you  may ;  you  may  pour  upon  his  ear  that 
u  trump  of  horror"  that  will  by-and-bye  awake 
the  dead ;  you  may  draw  aside  the  veil  of  eternity, 
and  show  him  that  hell  is  naked  before  him,  and 
that  destruction  hath  no  covering ;  and  though  he 
may  be  awakened,  and  may  cry  out  in  agony,  yet 
is  there  nothing  in  all  the  terrors  of  the  pit  that 
loosens  his  bonds,  or  that  can  induce  him  to  break 
off  his  iniquities  by  righteousness,  and  his  trans- 
gressions by  turning  to  God.  He  is  chained  to 
his  purpose  by  a  spirit  of  desperation;  and  the 
more  you  urge  him  by  considerations  the  most 
tfender  and  the  most  fearful,  the  more  does  his  ob- 
stinacy keep  pace  with  all  the  difficulties  you 
throw  in  his  way.  Even  when  the  minds  of 
the  wicked  are  awake  to  the  instructions  of  God's 
word,  and  to  the  solemn  and  affecting  expostula- 
tions of  his  providence,  they  will  stand  and  resist 
the  force  of  the  truth  and  the  obligations  of  duty, 
and  contend  with  their  Maker  to  the  last.  Nay, 
when  the  Eternal  Spirit  is  striving  with  them; 
when  he  opens  their  eyes  to  see  their  danger,  and 
awakens  their  consciences  to  feel  their  guilt ;  when 
he  makes  them  feel  that  they  are  in  the  broad 
way  that  leads  to  death,  and  that  they  must  repent 
and  believe  the  gospel,  or  perish :  they  still  cleave 


THE  FIRST  DEFINITION  OF  HUMAN  SINFULNESS.     155 

to  their  wickedness,  and  had  rather  perish  than 
repent  and  believe  the  gospel.  It  is  then  their 
carnal  mind  rises  in  most  sensible  and  deter- 
mined hostility  to  God;  their  iniquity  revives, 
and  they  sin  faster  and  stronger  than  ever.  The 
more  light  and  convictions  are  thrown  upon  their 
minds,  the  more  unyielding  do  their  hearts  be- 
come. The  Scriptures  set  this  in  a  very  strong 
light  when  they  say,  "  Though  thou  bray  a  fool  in 
a  mortar,  among  wheat  with  a  pestle,  yet  will 
not  his  foolishness  depart  from  him."  If  omnipo- 
tent grace  does  not  interpose,  they  persist  in  their 
obduracy. 

Another  feature  in  this  early  description  of  hu- 
man wickedness  is,  that  it  is  pure  and  unmin- 
gled  wickedness.  That  sin  to  no  small  ex- 
tent is  one  of  the  distinctive  properties  of  the 
human  race,  is  a  fact  too  obvious  to  be  called  in 
question.  Those  who  hold  the  most  loose  opinions 
of  human  depravity,  do  not  deny  that  "  all  have 
sinned  and  come  short  of  the  glory  of  God."  But 
whether  man  is  by  nature  a  totally  depraved  be- 
ing ;  and  whether  his  wickedness  is  such  as  to  be 
without  any  mixture  of  holiness,  is  a  question 
which  has  ever  divided  the  unevangelical  from  the 
evangelical  world.  That  some  are  worse  than 
others ;  that  no  man  is  as  bad  as  he  is  capable  of 
being,  and  as  he  will  be  in  future  and  more  ma- 
tured stages  of  his  wickedness,  are  positions  we 


156     THE  FIRST  DEFINITION  OF  HUMAN  SINFULNESS. 

are  not  disposed  to  controvert ;  nor  is  it  necessary 
to  controvert  them  in  order  to  maintain  the  doc- 
trine of  total  depravity.  That  doctrine  we  under- 
stand to  be,  that  every  man  is  by  nature  destitute 
of  holiness,  and  that  whatever  in  his  nature  or 
conduct  is  capable  of  being  compared  with  the 
law  of  God,  is  positively  sinful.  And  is  not  this 
the  view  of  the  human  character  which  is  given  in 
the  Scriptures  ?  What  is  the  meaning  of  the 
declaration,  "  And  God  saw  that  the  wickedness 
of  man  was  great  in  the  earth ;  and  that  every 
imagination  of  the  thoughts  of  his  heart  was  only 
evil  continually?  If  every  imagination  of  the 
thoughts  of  his  heart  is  evil,  what  is  there  in  his 
heart  that  is  not  evil  ?  If  this  evil  is  continual, 
and  without  interruption,  where  is  there  any  room 
for  one  right  principle,  emotion,  or  act  ?  Else- 
where, we  are  instructed  that  "  the  heart  of  the 
sons  of  men  is  full  of  evil,  and  madness  is  in  their 
heart."  What  is  there  good  in  the  heart  that  is 
full  of  evil  ?  "  There  is  none  righteous,"  saith  the 
Apostle,  "  no,  not  one ;  there  is  none  that  doeth 
good,  no,  not  one."  This  Apostle  himself,  even 
before  his  conversion,  was  a  man  of  blameless  out- 
ward deportment,  and  even  a  rigid  and  severe 
religionist ;  afterward,  he  was  one  of  the  most 
self-denying  and  devoted  servants  of  God  the 
world  has  seen  ;  yet  he  says  of  himself,  "  I  know 
that  in  me,  that  is  in  my  flesh, — my  unrenewed 


THE  FIRST  DEFINITION  OF  HUMAN  SINFULNESS.     157 

mind, — there  dwelleth  no  good  iking?  The  im- 
port of  these  and  similar  declarations  is,  that  all 
the  moral  dispositions  and  exercises  of  man's  heart, 
until  it  is  renewed  by  the  Spirit  of  God,  are  sinful. 
No  matter  how  wise  and  accomplished  men  may 
be  ;  no  matter  how  worthy  of  confidence  in  their 
intercourse  with  their  fellow-men  ;  no  matter  how 
amiable  and  mild  in  their  natural  dispositions ;  if 
unrenewed,  their  hearts  are  the  seat  of  unmixed 
wickedness,  and  they  are  altogether  inclined  to 
evil.  Their  thoughts  are  sinful;  their  desires, 
their  purposes  and  motives  are  sinful ;  whatever 
passes  through  their  minds,  of  which  the  law  of 
God  takes  cognizance,  is  evil  and  not  good,  dis- 
obedience and  not  obedience.  And  thus  their 
whole  heart  is  sinful.  All  that  appertains  to  it  is 
unholy  and  wrong.  The  exterior  may  be  fair,  but 
there  is  nothing  but  moral  corruption  within. 
There  is  a  fulness  of  iniquity,  which,  though  it 
flow  not  forth  in  the  filth  and  scum  of  wick- 
edness, sends  forth  streams  that  are  immingled 
with  no  good  thing.  There  is  no  cessation  in  the 
streams,  and  there  is  no  purity.  Their  "  inward 
thought  is  very  wickedness."  They  may  please 
men,  and  be  the  objects  of  their  admiration  and 
applause ;  but  so  long  as  they  are  in  the  flesh, 
"  they  cannot  please  God."  They  are  destitute  of 
everything  which  God  requires  and  approves. 
And  hence  the  Scriptures  so  familiarly  represent 


158      THE  FIRST  DEFINITION   OF   HUMAN  SINFULNESS. 

them  as  "  dead  in  sin  ;"  not  diseased  merely,  but 
dead  ;  not  dead  to  the  claims  and  obligations  of 
holiness,  but  dead  in  sin.  And  hence,  in  enforcing 
this  truth,  the  Scriptures  also  so  familiarly  repre- 
sent it  as  necessary  that  they  should  be  "born 
again,"  and  "  pass  from  death  unto  life,"  before  the 
first  pulse  of  spiritual  life,  or  true  holiness,  throbs 
within  their  bosoms.  Such  men  sin  as  constantly 
as  they  act ;  the  "  ploughing  of  the  wicked  is  sin," 
because  it  comes  from  so  sinful  a  heart.  They  sin 
as  constantly  as  they  think ;  nor  can  the  amount 
of  their  iniquity  be  estimated  without  a  due  esti- 
mate of  the  unnumbered  thoughts  and  emotions 
of  wickedness  that  pass  with  such  amazing  rapidity 
through  their  minds.  There  is  not  a  single  claim 
of  God  or  of  his  truth,  of  his  purposes  or  his  gov- 
ernment, of  his  law  or  his  gospel,  of  what  he  is,  has 
done,  or  will  perform,  toward  which  the  state  of 
their  hearts  is  not  just  the  opposite  of  what  he  re- 
quires. Such  is  the  extent  and  universality  of  their 
wickedness. 

Still  another  fact  to  which  this  first  definition 
of  human  wickedness  bears  witness  is,  that  what 

IS  THERE  AFFIRMED  OF  ONE  AGE  OF  THE  WORLD  IS 
TRUE     OF     MAN     EVERYWHERE     AND     IN     ALL   AGES. 

The  objection  that  this  description  of  human 
wickedness  is  applicable  only  to  a  very  corrupt 
age,  and  a  very  degenerate  race,  is  more  plau- 
sible  than   solid.     Where   is   the   evidence   that 


THE   FIRST   DEFINITION   OF  HUMAN  SINFULNESS.     159 

human  nature  is  essentially  changed  from  the  days 
of  Noah  to  the  present  hour  ?  The  language  of 
the  sacred  historian  is  certainly  strong  and  com- 
prehensive. It  is  the  wickedness  of  man  of  which 
he  speaks ;  they  are  the  imaginations  of  the 
thoughts  of  maris  heart,  wherever  he  is  found, 
until  he  is  renewed  by  the  grace  of  God.  When 
you  look  at  the  character  of  the  antediluvian 
world,  and  compare  it  with  the  character  of  sub- 
sequent ages,  under  the  same  moral  culture, 
do  you  not  perceive  that  it  is  the  true  index  of 
fallen  humanity  all  over  the  world?  You  in- 
spect the  conduct  of  such  men  as  Nimrod,  Pha- 
raoh, Jeroboam,  Manasseh,  and  Ahab ;  and  though 
you  see  human  nature  in  some  of  its  worst 
forms,  you  only  see  what  is  in  the  heart  of 
man.  It  is  the  eagle  allured  by  the  scent  of 
prey ;  and  "  where  the  carcass  is,  there  will 
the  eagles  be  gathered  together."  You  look 
into  the  pages  of  history,  and  read  the  achieve- 
ments of  ambition,  the  plots  of  treachery,  the 
deeds  of  wrong  and  violence,  of  lust  and  blood ; 
and  what  do  you  survey,  if  not  the  character  of 
man  ?  You  observe  the  human  character  in  the 
great  marts  of  business ;  you  advert  to  places  and 
scenes  where  wicked  men  are  congregated  in  large 
masses;  you  traverse  the  streets  of  London,  or 
Paris,  or  Lisbon,  or  Stockholm,  or  Constanti- 
nople, where  the  habits  are  formed  under  influ- 


160     THE  FIRST  DEFINITION  OF  HUMAN  SINFULNESS. 

ences  not  the  most  favorable  to  moral  virtue; 
and  what  do  we  observe  if  not  the  character  of 
man?  If  you  ask  the  merchant  and  the  ship- 
owner what  views  they  have  formed  of  human 
nature ;  it  might  call  up  the  blush  of  shame  upon 
their  face  to  give  an  honest  answer.  If  you  in- 
quire of  the  judge  on  the  bench,  or  the  barrister 
at  the  bar,  and  who  have  more  or  better  opportu- 
nities of  scrutinizing  the  characters  of  men,  they 
will  tell  you  that  there  is  very  little  sterling  vir- 
tue in  the  world.  The  melancholy  fact  is,  that 
those  who  know  the  most  of  mankind,  in  all  coun- 
tries, in  all  climates,  and  under  all  circumstances, 
know  the  most  of  human  wickedness,  and  have 
the  most  humiliating  impressions  of  human  de- 
pravity. Nor  can  the  universal  fact  be  accounted 
for,  that  the  old  are  so  much  more  suspicious  than 
the  young,  but  that  the  more  men  themselves 
know  of  men,  the  more  are  they  convinced  that 
they  are  not  trustworthy.  If  it  be  still  said,  that 
this  is  unfair  and  disingenuous  reasoning,  we  de- 
mand again,  where  is  the  unfairness  ?  If  you  re- 
ply, it  is  not  true  that  all  men  are  thus  wicked ;  we 
reply,  we  do  not  affirm  that  they  are  so ;  and  only 
affirm  that  such  examples  indicate  what  is  in  man, 
and  that  left  to  himself,  he  is  no  better  than  this. 
We  do  not,  as  it  is  slanderously  reported,  and  as 
some  affirm  that  we  say,  assert  that  the  character 
of  the  race  is  to  be  decided  by  its  prisons  /  but 


THE  FIRST  DEFINITION  OF  HUMAN  SINFULNESS.     161 

this  we  say,  that  the  hearts  of  the  best  of  men  are, 
by  nature,  no  better  than  the  hearts  of  the  worst 
of  men.  If  the  conduct  of  one  wicked  man  is  not 
so  bad  as  the  conduct  of  another,  or  if  in  any  of 
its  forms  it  differs  from  that  of  others ;  it  is  not 
because  there  is  naturally  any  radical  difference 
in  their  hearts,  but  because  their  character  is 
formed  under  different  exterior  influences.  All 
have  not  the  same  capacity  for  wickedness ;  nor 
the  same  strength  of  appetite  and  passions;  nor 
the  same  opportunities  of  sinning ;  nor  the  same 
temptations  and  inducements.  Man  is  substantially 
the  same  being  everywhere ;  under  the  same  train- 
ing and  motives,  his  heart  will  act  itself  out  much 
in  the  same  way.  The  stream  of  corruption  with- 
out never  rises  higher  than  the  fountain  of  corrup- 
tion within.  The  reason  why  some  men  are  good 
and  some  are  bad,  is  that  the  difference  is  made 
by  the  grace  of  God.  The  reason  why  some 
wicked  men  are  more  wicked  than  others,  and 
the  reason  why  the  same  men  are  more  wicked 
at  some  times  than  at  others,  is  that  their  minds 
are  not  so  vigorous  at  one  time  as  at  another,  and 
they  are  impelled  by  stronger  considerations. 
Their  wickedness  is  always  as  great  as  the  state 
of  their  minds  and  their  outward  condition  will 
allow,  because  "  the  imagination  of  the  thoughts 
of  their  heart  is  evil,  only  evil  continually." 
With  this  view  of  human  wickedness,  what  must 


162     THE  FIRST  DEFINITION   OF   HUMAN  SINFULNESS. 

be  our  reflections  ?  What  everlasting  unworthiness 
of  all  good,  and  what  everlasting  desert  of  evil  are 
befitting  us  as  men  !  What  an  aggregate  of  wick- 
edness is  treasured  up  against  the  man  whose  in- 
iquity is  unpardoned  !  If  the  reader  can  number 
the  sands  on  the  shore,  or  weigh  the  mountains  in 
scales  and  the  hills  in  a  balance,  then  can  he  esti- 
mate his  own  ill-desert.  How  deep  the  wicked- 
ness in  the  heart  of  man ;  how  deep  the  abyss  of 
misery  into  which  he  deserves  to  fall !  "  Infinite 
upon  infinite"  scarcely  fathoms  these  depths.  All 
the  plagues  that  are  written  in  God's  book  do  not 
adequately  measure  the  desperate  wickedness  of 
the  human  heart. 

Why  is  it,  then,  that  so  many  cry,  peace !  peace ! 
but  that  the  heart  of  man  is  "  deceitful  above  all 
things."  Men  are  strangely  blind  to  their  own 
character.  How  true  it  is,  that  "  he  that  trusteth 
to  his  own  heart  is  a  fool !"  Memory  is  treacher- 
ous ;  but  the  heart  is  more  treacherous.  The  im- 
agination is  full  of  lying  vanities ;  but  the  heart  is 
a  greater  liar  even  than  the  imagination.  It  is 
made  up  of  deception,  because  it  is  made  up  of 
wickedness.  It  deceives  others  and  it  deceives  it- 
self. It  practises  its  deceptions  with  marvellous 
and  dire  success,  overreaching  and  outrunning  its 
own  original  intentions  of  wickedness,  breaking 
its  promises  and  vows,  and  hurrying  men  down 
the   vortex   of  their    own   passions    when  they 


THE  FIRST  DEFINITION  OF  HUMAN  SINFULNESS.      163 

thought  the  surface  was  equable  and  smooth.  It 
is  no  rare  occurrence  for  them  to  confess  that  they 
err  in  judgment,  and  that  their  outward  conduct  is 
faulty ;  but  very  rarely  are  they  convinced  that 
the  more  radical  error  is  error  at  heart.  It  is 
surprising  to  see  how  soon  the  heart  expresses 
its  deceitfulness,  and  at  what  an  early  age  it  is 
acted  out.  On  almost  every  other  subject,  ex- 
cept those  which  are  religious  and  moral,  a  little 
child,  unless  it  has  been  tampered  with,  is  in- 
genuous and  honest.  But  on  this  whole  class  of 
subjects,  no  sooner  is  the  conscience  awake,  than 
the  heart  proves  a  traitor.  It  is  most  ingeniously 
deceitful,  and  has  at  its  command  all  the  arts  of 
palliation,  apology,  quibbling,  and  tergiversation 
which  are  discoverable  in  more  matured  minds. 
There  is  nothing  more  observable  in  wicked  men, 
and  there  is  nothing  of  which  good  men  more  com- 
plain, than  the  deceitfulness  of  their  hearts.  De- 
ceit is  one  of  the  deep-seated  characteristics  of  the 
heart  of  man,  and  adheres  to  him  with  indomitable 
pertinacity;  it  sloughs  off  even  from  the  moral 
constitution  of  good  men,  with  the  last  excres- 
cences of  the  body  of  sin  and  death. 

It  is  a  marvel  in  the  view  of  some,  that  men 
should  be  often  so  agitated  and  distressed  by  a 
sense  of  their  wickedness.  But  why  should  any 
marvel  at  a  fact  so  easily  accounted  for  ?  What 
more  is  necessary  in  order  to  fill  the  mind  with 


164     THE  FIRST   DEFINITION  OF  HUMAN  SINFULNESS. 

anxiety  and  distress,  than  for  any  man  to  "  know 
the  plague  of  his  own  heart!"  Let  the  most 
thoughtless  man  in  the  world  see  this,  and  he  can- 
not help  feeling  that  he  has  a  burden  too  great  for 
him  to  bear.  His  own  conscience  unites  with  the 
truth  of  the  Bible  in  assuring  him  that  the  wrath 
of  God  abideth  on  him ;  that  he  is  a  dying  man, 
and  must  soon  appear  before  the  judgment-seat 
of  Christ ;  and  that  it  is  but  the  recompense  due 
to  his  sins,  if  he  escape  not  the  damnation  of  hell. 
The  marvel  is,  that  there  should  be  an  uncon- 
verted man  in  the  world,  who  is  not  pricked  in  his 
heart,  and  does  not  cry  out,  with  the  alarmed  thou- 
sands on  the  day  of  Pentecost,  "  Men  and  brethren, 
what  shall  we  do  to  be  saved  I"  O  this  heart  of 
wickedness  !  this  heart  of  adamant !  What  must 
eternity  be  to  a  man  who  has  such  a  heart ! 

This  is  no  false  alarm  which  I  am  sounding.  No 
man  can  go  into  eternity  with  such  a  heart  and  be 
safe.  He  must  become  an  altered  man,  or  be  lost. 
"  Verily,  verily  I  say  unto  you,  except  a  man  be 
born  again,  he  cannot  see  the  kingdom  of  God." 
Human  wickedness  does  not  change  itself;  it  is 
never  so  wise,  nor  so  well  balanced,  nor  is  it  ever 
so  sorely  pressed,  and  in  such  a  state  of  suspense, 
as  to  alter  its  own  course.  No,  it  is  an  iron  des- 
potism which  omnipotence  must  break.  Such  a 
man  stands  on  slippery  places.  Ministers  may 
preach  to  him  ;  Christians  may  pray  for  him  ;  but 


THE  FIRST  DEFINITION  OF  HUMAN  SINFULNESS.     165 

he  must  have  other  helpers,  and  find  refuge  in  him 
who  "  hath  mercy  on  whom  he  will  have  mercy." 
Here  lies  all  our  hope  for  lost  and  ruined  man. 
Time  and  opportunity  will  fit  them  for  perdition  ; 
infinite  grace  alone  can  overcome  this  heart  of  sin, 
and  fit  them  for  the  joys  of  God's  right  hand. 
Nor  may  any  man  quarrel  with  this  truth,  until 
he  finds  he  can  be  saved  without  it.  Nor  may  he 
make  it  a  refuge  of  lies,  and  plead  it  as  an  excuse 
for  not  breaking  off  his  iniquity  by  righteousness, 
and  his  transgressions  by  turning  to  God.  Flee  I 
pray  you  from  the  delusion  of  a  heart  that  would 
thus  deceive  you  to  your  own  undoing. 


CHAPTER    XX. 

#jfj  /irjgi  tantttinfo  iBitjjhittnnnnt  nf 
tjj*  Spirit. 

God's  gracious  purpose  of  saving  sinners  is 
"  through  sanctification  of  the  Spirit  and  belief  of 
the  truth."  The  character  and  work  of  this  di- 
vine agent,  though  by  no  means  so  clearly  in  the 
Old  Testament  as  in  the  New,  are  yet  clearly  re- 
vealed. When,  just  before  the  flood,  the  Lord 
said,  "My  Spirit  shall  not  always  strive  with 
man,"  he  teaches  us,  that  there  is  such  an  agent ; 
that  he  strives  with  men ;  and  that  he  shall  not 
strive  always. 

The  Spirit  of  God  possesses  a  distinct  and  per- 
sonal existence.  Notwithstanding  the  modern  re- 
finements of  some  few  Trinitarian  writers,  we  still 
hold  to  a  personal  distinction  in  the  Godhead ;  it  is 
not  a  mere  nominal  distinction,  to  which  the  Scrip- 
tures refer,  when  they  speak  of  the  Father,  the 
Son,  and  the  Holy  Ghost.  There  are  three  equally 
distinct  and  divine  persons  in  the  one  God ;  yet, 


THE  FIRST  WITHDRAWMENT  OF  THE  SPIRIT.      16? 

mysterious  truth,  they  are  "  the  same  in  substance, 
equal  in  power  and  glory."  They  are  distinct 
without  being  separate;  just  as  the  faculties  of 
the  human  mind  are  distinct,  without  being  sepa- 
rate faculties.  And  they  are  inseparably  united  in 
one  God,  just  as  the  faculties  of  the  human  mind 
are  inseparably  united  in  one  intellectual  and 
moral  existence.  Nor  can  we  understand  the 
wondrous  method  of  redemption  which  distin- 
guishes Christianity  from  all  other  religions,  with- 
out receiving  this  truth. 

There  are  those  who  teach  that  the  Holy  Spirit 
is  God  acting  in  a  distinct  office ;  this  was  the  be- 
lief of  Sabellius  of  the  third  century,  and  the  her- 
esy which  was  condemned  by  the  council  of  Constan- 
tine.  There  are  those  who  teach  that  He  derives 
his  existence  from  the  Father  and  the  Son ;  such 
is  the  Arian  heresy ;  it  sprang  up  in  the  church  of 
Alexandria  in  the  early  part  of  the  fourth  century, 
and  was  condemned  both  by  the  council  of  Alex- 
andria and  the  council  of  Nice.  The  Socinians 
and  modern  Unitarians  teach  that  the  Holy  Ghost 
is  not  a  person,  but  a  mere  divine  energy,  or  in- 
fluence, an  attribute  of  the  Deity,  and  not  himself 
divine. 

It  is  one  of  the  peculiarities  of  Christianity,  that 
the  Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Ghost  are  three  distinct, 
inseparable  persons  in  one  God.  The  Spirit  of 
God  is  not  a  mere  influence,  power,  or  emanation 


168      THE  FIRST  WITHDRAWMENT  OF  THE  SPIRIT. 

of  the  Deity ;  but  an  intelligent  Person,  perceiving, 
thinking,  choosing,  acting.  Personal  properties, 
personal  characteristics,  personal  works,  are  attrib- 
uted to  him. 

The  Scriptures  instruct  us  that  he  possesses  in- 
telligence :  "  The  Spirit  searcheth  all  things,  even 
the  deep  things  of  God."  He  possesses  will  and 
choice :  "  The  Spirit,  dividing  to  every  man,  as  he 
will."  He  possesses  power :  "  All  these  worketh 
that  one  and  the  self-same  Spirit."  He  teaches  and 
dictates :  "  He  shall  teach  you  all  things ;"  it  is 
"  not  you  that  speak,  but  the  Holy  Ghost."  He 
commands,  commissions,  and  sends  forth  :  "  The 
Spirit  said,  Arise,  for  I  have  sent  them ;"  being 
"  sent  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  they  departed."  He 
is  called  the  Sanctifier,  the  Witness,  the  Comforter. 
If  such  personal  properties  and  acts  do  not  distin- 
guish him  from  a  mere  principle,  or  influence,  and 
imply  personal  agency,  we  know  not  how  we  are 
to  ascertain  the  personality  of  God  himself.  It  is 
not  in  the  embellished  style  of  poetry  and  rhetoric, 
iThat  these  properties  are  ascribed  to  him  ;  it  is  in 
the  language  of  didactic  discourse  and  of  historical 
records ;  and  some  of  it  in  the  more  precise  lan- 
guage of  grant  and  covenant.  A  mere  emanation, 
or  quality,  cannot  be  said  to  create,  to  see,  to 
search,  to  receive,  to  speak,  to  intimate  his  mind 
and  will.  A  plain,  unlettered  man,  whose  mind 
has  not  been  perverted  by  the  subtleties  of  error, 


THE  FIRST  WITHDRAWMENT   OF   THE  SPIRIT.      169 

must  rise  from  an  impartial  view  of  the  Scriptures 
with  the  conviction  that  the  Spirit  of  God  is  a 
living  agent,  designing  and  working  with  con- 
sciousness, will,  and  power. 

This  fact,  if  we  mistake  not,  goes  far  toward 
proving  his  true  and  proper  divinity.  The 
Scriptures  also  familiarly  appropriate  to  him 
the  true  and  proper  names  of  the  Deity.  He  is 
called  the  God  of  Israel,  the  Rock  of  Israel ;  and 
Christians  are  spoken  of  as  "  the  Temple  of  God,11 
because  "  the  Spirit  of  God  dwelleth  in  them  ;"  the 
inhabitant  is  a  divine  Person.  We  are  instructed 
that,  to  "  lie  unto  the  Holy  Ghost"  is  not  to  "  lie 
unto  men,  but  unto  GodP  The  unpardonable  sin  is 
committed  against  the  Holy  Ghost.  The  prophet 
Isaiah  informs  us,  that  "  he  heard  the  voice  of  the 
Lord"11  speaking  to  him  ;  and  in  the  Acts  of  the 
Apostles,  the  writer  affirms  that  the  Person  thus 
addressing  the  prophet  was  the  Holy  Ghost. 
"  Well  spake  the  Holy  Ghost,  by  Esaias  the 
prophet."  In  the  prophecies  of  Ezekiel,  the  writer 
speaks  of  a  time  and  place  where  "  the  hand  of  the 
Lord  fell  upon  him  ;"  and  then  immediately  after- 
ward he  declares,  "  The  Spirit  lifted  me  up ;" 
while  in  the  course  of  his  narrative,  we  find  the 
same  Spirit  attending  the  prophet,  and  the  prophet 
invoking  him  as  the  Lord  God.  In  the  book  of 
Deuteronomy,  it  is  affirmed  that  "  Jehovah  alone 
did  lead  his  people ;"  while  the  prophet  Isaiah, 

VOL.  II. — 8 


170      THE  FIRST   WITHDRAWMENT   OF   THE   SPIRIT. 

referring  to  the  same  fact,  declares,  the  "  Holy 
Spirit  led  them."  In  the  Old  Testament  it  is 
written,  "  If  there  be  a  prophet  among  you,  I,  Je- 
hovah, will  make  myself  known  to  him ;"  and  in 
the  New  Testament  it  is  declared,  that  "  holy  men 
of  old  spake  as  they  were  moved  by  the  Holy 
Ghost? 

The  Scriptures  also  ascribe  to  the  Spirit  the  es- 
sential attributes  of  the  Deity.  He  is  called  the 
eternal  Spirit — the  omniscient  Spirit — the  omni- 
present Spirit — the  Spirit  of  poioer ;  while  the 
mighty  signs  and  wonders  which  accompanied  the 
introduction  of  Christianity,  are  declared  to  have 
been  wrought  "by  the  power  of  the  Spirit  of 
God."  What  created  being  possesses  such  attri- 
butes as  these  ? 

Religious  worship  is  also  paid  to  the  Spirit  in 
the  formula  of  Christian  baptism,  and  in  the  apos- 
tolic benediction.  Of  the  same  import  also  is  that 
expressive  benediction  in  the  Apocalypse,  "  Grace 
be  unto  you  from  Him  who  is,  and  who  was,  and 
who  is  to  come,  and  from  the  seven  spirits  which 
are  before  the  throne,  and  from  Jesus  Christ,  the 
faithful  and  true  Witness !"  Here  in  the  same  act 
of  worship  with  the  self-existent,  eternal,  and  un- 
changeable Jehovah,  and  with  the  divine  and  co- 
equal Son,  is  associated  "the  seven  spirits  which  are 
before  the  throne,"  denoting  the  perfection  and  ful- 
ness of  the  Spirit's  gifts  and  operations,  as  the 


THE  FIRST  WITHDRAWMENT  OF  THE   SPIRIT.       171 

Fountain  of  life,  grace,  and  peace,  and  as  one  with 
the  Father  and  the  Son.  No  created  spirit  would 
have  been  thus  associated  as  one  with  him  who  is 
God  over  all,  blessed  for  evermore. 

No  such  representations  could  have  been  made 
concerning  the  Holy  Spirit,  if  he  were  not  truly 
and  properly  God.  Nor  may  we  forget  that  all 
the  considerations  in  proof  of  the  doctrine  of  the 
Trinity  furnish  concurrent  demonstration  of  the 
divinity  of  the  Spirit ;  and  that  whatever  evidence 
is  furnished  of  a  plurality  of  persons  in  the  God- 
head bears  directly  upon  the  fact,  that  the  Spirit 
is  "the  same  in  substance,  and  equal  in  power  and 
glory"  with  the  Father  and  the  Son. 

When  the  Scriptures  teach  us  that  God's  Spirit 
strives  with  men,  they  teach  us  that  he  sustains  an 
important  office  in  the  work  of  redemption.  The  sec- 
ond person  in  the  adorable  Trinity  sustains  a  special 
and  peculiar  office  in  this  great  work,  which  was  to 
become  incarnate  and  suffer  and  die  on  the  cross 
to  make  an  atonement  for  the  sins  of  men,  to  pass 
into  the  heavens,  and  as  a  merciful  and  faithful 
High  Priest  ever-living  to  make  intercession  for  us. 
The  peculiar  province  of  the  Spirit  is  the  human 
mind;  they  are  his  internal  operations  upon  the 
soul  of  man  by  which  he  is  chiefly  known  and 
honored. 

When  the  promise  of  the  Holy  Spirit  was 
given  by  the  Saviour  to  the  apostles,  it  was  a 


172     THE  FIRST  WITHDRAWMENT  OF   THE  SPIRIT. 

promise  they  did  not  fully  understand.  He  was  to 
prepare  them  for  their  great  work  of  establishing 
and  diffusing  Christianity  in  the  earth.  He  was 
to  compensate  them  for  the  departure  and  absence 
of  their  adored  Master ;  to  take  the  place  of  his 
personal  presence,  and  more  than  supply  the  com- 
forts and  consolations  which  they  had  been  wont 
to  receive  immediately  from  him.  Nor  was  this 
promised  blessing  limited  to  the  apostles ;  it  was 
to  affect  the  state  of  the  world.  It  was  not  to 
give  them  wealth,  honor,  or  dominion;  but  to 
"take  of  the  things  that  are  Christ's,  and  show 
them  unto  men."  It  was  to  be  a  copious  blessing ; 
the  early  Christians  were  to  be  baptized  with  it ; 
and  it  was  to  come  upon  them  like  the  dew  of 
Hermon,  and  like  the  dew  that  descended  upon  the 
mountains  of  Zion.  It  was  to  fall  as  the  rain  upon 
the  parched  wilderness,  to  be  poured  out  like 
floods  that  water  the  earth,  cleansing  it  from  its 
filthiness,  and  making  its  sterile  soil  like  a  fertile 
garden.  It  was  to  be  a  permanent  blessing,  a 
fountain  of  living  waters,  that  should  never  be 
exhausted. 

Facts  tell  us  what  it  was ;  and  that  the  prom- 
ise of  it  was  worthy  of  being  called  by  the  Sa- 
viour himself,  "  The  promise  of  my  Father."  It 
was  like  God,  and  worthy  of  God.  The  fulfil- 
ment of  it  gave  birth  to  a  series  of  events  which 
continued  through  the  apostolic  age ;  which  con- 


THE   FIRST   WITHDRAWMENT  OP  THE   SPIRIT.      173 

tinue  to  the  present  day ;  which  will  continue  to 
the  end  of  time,  and  the  glorious  effects  of  which 
will  be  fully  realized  only  in  the  coming  eter- 
nity. Ages,  places,  churches,  and  men  on  whom 
the  Spirit  descends,  are  the  marked  ages  in  the 
history  of  time,  the  distinguished  spots  on  the 
face  of  our  globe,  the  favored  individuals  of  our 
race.  He  is  emphatically  the  inward  witness,  that 
God  manifest  in  the  flesh,  having  made  propitia- 
tion by  the  blood  of  his  cross,  rose  from  the 
dead,  ascended  up  on  high,  and  lives  to  send 
down  that  which  his  people  see,  hear,  and  feel. 
He  ever  has  done,  and  still  performs  what  no 
miracles  can  accomplish,  and  that  which  can  be 
accomplished  by  no  force  of  evidence,  no  light  of 
truth,  and  no  power  of  moral  suasion.  He  gives  re- 
pentance unto  life.  He  makes  men  see,  and  feel, 
and  confess  their  vileness,  and  look  to  the  despised 
and  crucified  One  for  pardon  and  life ;  so  that  the 
Saviour  they  once  despised,  they  now  confide  in ; 
truths  they  once  hated,  they  now  love;  instruc- 
tions they  once  scoffed  at,  they  now  obey.  They 
are  called  from  darkness  to  light ;  they  have  passed 
from  death  unto  life ;  they  have  turned  from  the 
power  of  Satan  to  the  living  God,  by  the  greater 
power  of  the  Spirit. 

The  regard  which  the  Spirit  of  God  claims 
arises  principally  from  what  he  performs.  He 
does  not  claim  honor  without  deserving  it.     The 


1*74      THE  FIRST   WITHDRAWMENT  OF   THE  SPIRIT. 

garlands  upon  his  brow  are  unfading,  because  they 
are  formed  of  deeds  of  power  and  grace,  which 
none  but  the  God  of  omnipotent  power  and  love 
can  perform.  The  fact  is  sometimes  overlooked 
that  he  does  not  so  much  assert  his  honors,  as 
prove  and  demonstrate  them.  It  is  written  of  him, 
and  they  are  memorable  words,  that  "  He  shall 
not  speak  of  himself."  Yet  what  he  refrains  from 
uttering,  he  is  mighty  to  achieve.  It  is  when  he 
arrests  the  understanding,  penetrates  the  con- 
science, takes  away  the  heart  of  stone  and  gives 
a  heart  of  flesh,  and  fills  the  soul  with  the  love  of 
God ;  that  he  appears  in  his  godlike  prerogatives. 
It  is  when  he  takes  the  feet  of  the  conscience  and 
law-smitten  sinner  from  the  horrible  pit  and  the 
miry  clay,  and  sets  them  upon  a  rock,  and  puts  a 
new  song  into  his  mouth,  that  he  constrains  even 
the  unbelieving  world  to  say,  "  Behold  what  hath 
God  wrought !"  It  is  when  he  deigns  to  draw 
near  to  men  and  hold  communion  with  them ; 
when  he  fills  the  heart  with  his  grace,  and  the 
sanctuary  with  his  presence,  and  there  "makes 
the  place  of  his  feet  glorious,"  that  the  most  un- 
thinking and  fearless  say,  "  How  awful  is  this 
place  ;  this  is  none  other  but  the  house  of  God,  and 
this  is  the  gate  of  heaven  !"  In  the  revelations  he 
has  made  of  himself  in  the  Scriptures,  he  is  the  least 
prominent  of  the  three  sacred  Persons  in  the  ever- 
blessed  and  adorable  Trinity;  while  in  the  pro- 


THE  FIRST  WITHDRAWMENT  OF  THE  SPIRIT.      175 

gressive  accomplishment  of  his  gracious  purposes, 
he,  with  them,  is  decked  with  light  as  with  a  gar- 
ment, and  arrayed  in  majesty  and  excellency.  Our 
Lord  told  the  Jews,  that  "  lie  had  greater  witness" 
than  that  which  was  furnished  either  by  the  testi- 
mony of  the  Old  Testament  Scriptures,  or  that  of 
his  illustrious  forerunner.  "  The  wwh-s  which  the 
Father  hath  given  me  to  do,  these  same  works 
that  I  do,  bear  witness  of  me.  If  ye  believe  not 
me,  believe  me  for  the  works'  sake."  The  works 
of  the  Spirit  of  God  speak  for  him,  and  will  be  his 
witnesses  to  the  ends  of  the  earth.  A  creature 
might  as  well  commission  the  sun  to  rise,  and  ap- 
point the  place  of  his  going  down,  as  perform  these 
works  of  the  wonder-working  Spirit.  He  speaks 
and  it  is  done,  he  commands  and  it  stands  fast. 
Obstacles  disappear  at  his  coming,  and  opposition 
melts  away.  He  touches  the  hills  and  they  smoke ; 
the  mountains,  and  they  are  moved ;  the  hard  and 
granite  hearts  of  men,  and  they  become  hearts  of 
flesh.  These  acts  of  his  power  are  accumulative,  and 
destined  to  become  more  splendid  and  refulgent. 
He  has  but  just  entered  on  his  career  of  wonders. 
His  mighty  arm  has  scarcely  yet  been  made  bare ; 
his  still,  small  voice  scarcely  been  heard  ;  his  glory 
has  been  sometimes  eclipsed,  and  more  often  be- 
held only  in  dim  retirement,  compared  with  those 
exhibitions  of  it  which  will  hereafter  overlay  the 


176      THE  FIRST  WITHDRAWMENT  OF  THE  SPIRIT. 

earth,  and  with  which  he  will  one  day  be  en- 
circled. 

It  is  not  any  retired  department  in  the  work  of 
redemption  which  he  occupies ;  his  honors  are  won 
in  the  very  front  of  the  great  moral  contest  which 
is  yet  to  be  carried  on  in  this  revolted  world.  He 
has  come  to  our  dark  and  sinful  world  on  the  kind- 
est errand,  and  must  be  duly  honored.  The  Apostle 
speaks  of  "  the  love  of  the  Spirit ;"  and  how  beauti- 
ful a  thought  is  it  in  its  relations  to  what  he  per- 
forms. How  wondrous,  how  free  and  sovereign  that 
love  in  his  operations  on  the  heart !  How  excellent 
is  it  in  enlightening  the  dark  mind,  convincing  the 
conscience,  renewing  the  will,  revealing  Christ  to 
the  soul,  comforting  it,  and  enabling  it  to  joy  in 
God  !  How  condescending  is  it,  dwelling  in  the 
heart  as  his  temple,  assisting  in  prayer,  sealing  to 
the  day  of  redemption,  invigorating  for  duty, 
changing  from  glory  to  glory,  and  becoming  the 
earnest  of  the  eternal  inheritance  !  How  sweet 
are  its  fruits,  and  in  what  a  cold  and  unfriendly 
soil  are  they  cultivated !  And  what  will  be  its 
issues,  when  the  soul  is  filled  with  all  the  fulness 
of  God  !  O  for  a  deeper  sense  of  the  love  of  the 
Spirit ! 

We  would  fain  magnify  the  work  of  God's  Spirit. 
He  is  a  jealous  God  ;  he  knows  his  own  worthiness. 
His  sacred  ministrations  constitute  the  last  dispen- 
sation of  grace,  and  the  last  and  most  significant 


THE  FIRST  WITHDRAWMENT  OF  THE  SPIRIT.      1Y7 

interposition  by  which  the  God  who  is  invisi- 
ble brings  himself  to  the  view  of  men.  Never  are 
the  divine  existence,  the  divine  power,  the  divine 
justice,  mercy,  forbearance,  sovereignty,  faithful- 
ness, and  glory  so  truly  seen  and  acknowledged, 
and  so  deeply  felt,  as  when  he  takes  of  these 
things,  shining  as  they  do  in  the  face  of  Jesus 
Christ,  and  shows  them  to  the  minds  and  hearts 
of  men.  The  great  work  for  his  people  has  been 
effected  by  God  the  Son ;  the  great  work  in  them 
is  to  be  effected  by  God  the  Spirit.  He  now  de- 
scends and  fills  the  chasm  made  by  the  Saviour's 
absence,  that  the  church  may  not  be  left  without 
a  Sanctifier,  nor  the  world  without  the  Deity.  His 
presence  is  not  confined  to  time  and  place.  He 
dwells  with  the  millions  of  his  people,  and  he 
never  utterly  departs  from  them.  "  Whither  shall 
we  go  from  his  Spirit,  and  whither  shall  we  flee  from 
his  presence  ?"  Is  he  not  everywhere  in  this  guil- 
ty world,  if  it  be  only  to  restrain  the  wrath  of 
man  ?  Most  truly  will  he  yet  fill  the  whole  earth 
with  his  glory.  He  will  yet  bow  his  heavens  and 
come  down ;  the  mountains  shall  flow  down  at  his 
presence.  Revival  shall  succeed  revival,  and  these 
effusions  of  mercy  shall  be  as  when  the  heavens 
drop  down  righteousness,  and  the  earth  opens  and 
brings  forth  salvation. 

But  while  the  Spirit  of  God  thus  strives,  there 
are  those  with  whom  lie  will  not  strive  always. 

8* 


178      THE  FIRST  WITHDRAWMENT  OF  THE  SPIRIT. 

The  Scriptures  speak  of  resisting,  and  grieving, 
and  quenching  the  Holy  Spirit.  Not  a  few  are 
alarmed  and  convinced  of  sin,  who  resist  these  in- 
ward operations,  and  at  last  perish.  That  deep 
impression  of  personal  sinfulness,  those  fearful  ap- 
prehensions of  the  displeasure  of  a  holy  God,  that 
humbling  consciousness  of  dependence  and  inexcu- 
sableness  which  are  often  felt  by  those  who  are  not 
Christians,  constitute  a  state  of  mind  which  is  in 
every  view  solemn  and  affecting.  Yet  is  it  often 
thrown  off  and  dismissed.  Men  drop  the  subject 
and  resist  the  Spirit.  They  turn  back  like  the 
dog  to  his  vomit,  and  like  the  sow  that  was 
washed  to  her  wallowing  in  the  mire. 

If  you  ask  how  they  do  this,  I  answer,  some  do 
it  by  avoiding  the  external  duties  of  religion ;  and 
they  do  it  on  purpose  to  prevent,  or  destroy  seri- 
ous impressions.  Others  do  it  by  thinking  lightly 
and  speaking  lightly  of  the  Spirit  himself,  and  of 
the  work  he  performs ;  and  they  do  it  with  the  view 
of  resisting  his  influences,  and  fortifying  their  own 
minds  against  them.  Some  do  it,  by  shunning  the 
society  of  the  inquiring  and  anxious ;  and  it  is  for 
the  purpose  of  keeping  their  own  minds  from  be- 
ing thrown  into  deeper  anxiety  and  distress.  Some 
do  it  by  murmuring  against  God,  and  quarrelling 
with  his  truth  ;  and  thus  they  counteract  the  mer- 
ciful design  of  the  Spirit,  who  would  otherwise 
make  the  truth  the  power  of  God  to  salvation. 


THE  FIRST  WITHDRAWMENT  OF  THE  SPIRIT.      179 

Some  do  it  by  dissipating  their  minds  by  world- 
ly cares  and  amusements.  Most  successfully  do 
they  grieve  the  Spirit  thus ;  and  by  thus  yielding 
to  the  incessant  importunity  of  the  world,  kill 
their  convictions.  They  grieve  God's  Spirit  by 
all  their  self-justifying  pleas,  by  all  their  delay  to 
accept  offered  mercy,  and  by  all  their  halting  be- 
tween two  opinions. 

There  are  not  many  sins  greater  than  thus 
resisting  the  Spirit.  There  are  not  many  in 
which  men  sin  so  directly  against  God ;  because 
when  his  Spirit  strives  with  them,  God  is  imme- 
diately before  their  minds.  There  are  not  many 
in  which  they  sin  so  directly  against  his  authority ; 
because  his  Spirit  brings  the  commandment  home. 
There  are  not  many  in  which  they  sin  so  directly 
against  their  own  consciences ;  because  their  con- 
science is  then  broad  awake.  There  are  not  many 
in  which  they  so  practically  justify  all  their  other 
sins ;  because  their  sins  are  then  set  in  order  be- 
fore them,  and  the  single  question  is  presented  to 
their  minds,  whether  they  will  "  leave  their  sins 
and  go  to  heaven,  or  have  their  sins  and  go  to 
hell."  Nor  are  there  many  sins  by  which  they  so 
violate  their  own  resolutions,  vows  and  prayers ; 
and  in  defiance  of  them  all,  force  themselves  back 
to  stupidity  and  darkness.  Nor  are  there  any  by 
which  they  so  resist  the  strongest  motives  to  repent- 
ance toward  God  and  faith  in  Jesus  Christ.    There 


180      THE  FIRST  WITHDRAWMENT  OF  THE  SPIRIT. 

is  every  motive,  and  every  combination  of  motives 
resisted,  when  men  resist  the  Holy  Ghost. 

And  because  he  is  thus  resisted,  he  no  longer 
strives.  He  sees  the  sinner  is  growing  worse  and 
worse,  and  leaves  him  to  his  own  chosen  way. 
Some  he  abandons  sooner  than  others,  and  some 
he  strives  with  long.  But  when  he  ceases  to 
strive,  the  fate  of  the  resisting  is  the  doom  of  the 
reprobate.  He  will  not  strive  always,  because 
there  is  a  limit  beyond  which  his  long-suffering 
may  not  be  extended ;  because  it  is  of  no  use ;  be- 
cause it  is  of  disservice  to  the  sinner  to  keep  up 
this  sharp  controversy  with  God ;  because  his  in- 
iquity is  already  full,  and  justice  will  exact  its  full 
recompense  at  another  day. 

Thus  it  was  with  the  old  world.  The  Spirit 
was  withdrawn,  and  the  flood  came  and  swept 
them  all  away.  They  did  not  know  when  he  de- 
parted ;  nor  did  they  believe  that  he  was  in  earn- 
est in  his  threatenings.  All  flesh  had  corrupted 
his  way  on  the  earth,  and  God's  patience  was  ex- 
hausted. Men  were  given  up  of  God,  and  had 
nothing  to  contend  with  in  establishing  one  uni- 
versal empire  of  infidelity  and  crime.  There  were 
giants  in  the  earth  in  those  days ;  men  who  had 
boldly  apostatized  from  the  true  religion ;  men  of 
rapine  and  blood;  mighty  men,  and  men  of  re- 
nown; men  of  great  courage  and  great  wicked- 
ness.    They  had  become  a  sensual  and  brutalized 


THE  FIRST   WITHDRAWMENT  OF  THE  SPIRIT.      181 

race.  Blasphemy  and  impiety  in  every  form,  in- 
jury and  wrong  in  all  their  excesses,  degrading 
and  diabolical  passions,  had  prepared  them  for 
overwhelming  wrath.  Yet  because  God's  Spirit 
no  longer  strivecl  with  them,  they  were  thought- 
less and  unconcerned ;  frivolous  and  immersed  in 
the  world.  They  were  eating  and  drinking,  mar- 
rying and  giving  in  marriage,  until  the  day  that 
Noah  entered  into  the  ark,  and  knew  not  until  the 
flood  came  and  took  them  all  away. 

As  it  was  then,  so  is  it  now.  Those  from  whom 
God's  Spirit  is  withdrawn  may  read  their  own  his- 
tory in  the  overthrow  of  that  abandoned  and  un- 
godly generation.  They  may  return  to  their 
thoughtlessness,  and  mingle  with  the  sons  and 
daughters  of  pleasure  in  all  the  joys  this  world 
can  give.  Not  another  pang  of  conviction  may 
shoot  through  their  obdurate  bosoms,  and  not 
another  solemn  thought  ever  cast  a  shade  upon 
their  brow.  But  it  is  the  maniac  joy  that 
shouts  on  the  brink  of  a  precipice.  It  will  cost 
them  little  effort  to  rush  on  in  their  mad  career. 
Days  of  gladness  will  roll  over  their  heads  as  pla- 
cidly as  though  no  thunder  was  gathering  in  the 
heavens,  and  no  fountains  of  the  great  deep  were 
about  to  be  broken  up.  Nothing  moves  them, 
because  God's  Spirit  has  ceased  to  strive.  Those 
who  listened  to  the  counsels  of  heavenly  wisdom, 
have  entered  into  the  ark,  and  he  who  openeth 


182      THE   FIRST   WITHDRAWMENT  OF   THE   SPIRIT. 

and  no  man  shutteth,  and  shutteth  and  no  man 
openeth,  has  "  shut  them  in."  From  sea  to  sea,  and 
from  shore  to  shore,  he  who  holds  the  winds  in  his 
fists  and  the  waters  as  in  the  hollow  of  his  hand,  bars 
the  fountains  of  his  de'ep  anger  until  they  are  housed 
from  the  storm.  But  there  is  no  escape  for  those 
who  have  vexed  and  grieved  the  Holy  Spirit. 
Sudden  destruction  cometh  upon  them,  like  the 
waters  of  the  flood,  when  the  roaring  of  its  waters 
proclaimed  how  wide  the  desolation,  how  pitiless 
its  empire. 

When  God  sent  his  prophet  to  premonish  the 
idolatrous  ten  tribes  of  his  approaching  judg- 
ments, he  uttered  the  emphatic  words,  "  Woe  also 
to  them,  when  I  depart  from  them !"  Minis- 
ters may  preach  then;  providences  may  alarm 
and  invite ;  but  it  is  all  in  vain.  The  streams  of 
mercy,  though  never  dry,  flow  not  through  this 
forsaken  heritage.  Instead  of  the  beauty  and 
richness  of  spring,  there  are  the  chill  blasts  and 
sterility  of  winter.  Every  cloud  is  sealed  up,  and 
Zion's  mountains,  and  even  her  once  verdant  plains, 
are  covered  with  snows.  Her  ways  are  mournful, 
"because  few  come  to  her  solemn  feasts."  And 
while  this  thoughtlessness  and  obduracy  distin- 
guish the  men  of  the  world,  God's  people  languish 
and  are  ready  to  die.  Few  enjoy  the  light  of  God's 
countenance,  while  many  walk  in  darkness.  The 
house  of  God  and  the  circles  of  prayer  are  strangely 


THE   FIRST   WITHDRAWMENT  OF  THE   SPIRIT.      183 

deserted ;  while  that  mutual  love  and  fellowship 
and  united  effort  for  the  salvation  of  men,  in  which 
they  once  so  greatly  delighted,  are  intermitted  and 
forgotten.  A  deathlike  slumber  pervades  the 
church.  Darkness  covers  her,  and  she  sits  in  sack- 
cloth. Languor  and  lethargy  paralyze  her  cour- 
age, and  she  sinks  in  despondency. 

And  then  it  is  that  there  are  such  mournful 
excesses  in  wickedness;  and  "iniquity  abounds," 
because  "the  love  of  many  waxes  cold."  It  is 
not  within  the  hallowed  sphere  of  the  Spirit's 
influence  that  the  great  adversary  most  success- 
fully allures.  Gross  vice  is  then  frowned  out  of 
countenance.  The  places  of  vain  amusement  and 
dissipation  are  deserted  for  the  place  of  prayer, 
and  the  careless  sinner,  the  cold-hearted  scoffer, 
and  it  may  be  the  stubborn  infidel  may  be  found 
in  his  closet  and  on  his  knees.  There  is  a  ma- 
jestic awfulness  in  these  footsteps  of  the  King 
of  Zion  when  he  walks  amid  the  golden  candle- 
sticks. When  his  Spirit  ceases  to  strive,  these 
restraints  are  withdrawn.  Wicked  men  then  sin 
with  boldness ;  vice,  once  restrained,  like  an  im- 
petuous river,  returns  to  its  own  channel  with  a 
violence  only  augmented  by  the  temporary  imped- 
iment thrown  in  its  way.  Immorality  stalks 
abroad  at  noon-day,  and  infidelity  reviles  and 
blasphemes.  Men  glory  in  their  shame,  and  with 
the  sinners  of  other  times,  say,  "The  Lord  shall 


184      THE  FIRST   WITHDRAWMENT  OF  THE  SPIRIT. 

not  see,  neither  shall  the  God  of  Jacob  regard  it." 
And  then  it  is  that  men  and  communities  ripen 
fast  for  destruction.  They  become  like  lands  that 
are  burnt  over  and  "  given  to  salt ;"  the  waters  of 
the  sanctuary  never  visit  them;  every  tree,  and 
plant,  and  shrub  withers,  and  is  cut  down. 

Does  it  not  then  become  all  classes  of  men — 
ministers  and  people,  parents  and  children,  good 
men  and  bad — to  prize  more  highly  the  presence 
of  God's  Spirit?  Not  more  certainly  was  the 
coming  of  Christ  the  great  promise  to  the  saints 
of  the  Old  Testament,  than  the  outpouring  of  the 
Spirit  is  the  great  promise  to  the  Christian  dis- 
pensation. Most  truly  may  we  say,  that  the  Holy 
Spirit  is  the  hope  of  the  world.  "  Upon  the  land 
of  my  people  shall  come  up  briers  and  thorns ;  yea 
upon  all  the  houses  of  the  joyous  city,  until  the 
Spirit  be  poured  from  on  high." 

Who  feels  the  need  of  this  sacred  influence  ? 
Who  is  driven  from  every  other  resource  and 
helper,  to  this  only  refuge  ?  Who  abjures  all  re- 
liance on  an  arm  of  flesh,  and  feels  that  his  help 
must  come  from  God  ? 

Who  desires  this  influence  ?  Who  is  so  prepared 
for  it,  that  it  would  be  no  disappointment  to  him, 
should  the  Spirit  of  God  come  and  search  Jerusa- 
lem as  with  candles  ;  and  no  grief  of  heart  to  him 
should  he  come  with  his  fan  in  his  hand  and  thor- 
oughly purge  his  floor  ?     Who  can  make  him  wel- 


THE  FIRST  WITHDRAWMENT  OF  THE  SPIRIT.      185 

come,  when  lie  comes  to  derange  their  ambitious 
plans,  to  disturb  their  worldly  joys,  and  demand 
their  thoughts,  their  time,  their  efforts,  and  their 
hearts  for  the  things  that  are  not  seen  and  are 
eternal  ?  Who  can  enjoy  his  presence,  should 
he  build  up  Zion,  and  appear  in  his  glory  ? 

Who  truly  seeks  and  prays  for  this  influence  ? 
It  is  not  an  unsolicited  good.  It  was  not  on  the  day 
of  Pentecost ;  nor  is  it  ever.  O,  where  are  the  men 
of  prayer,  who  stir  themselves  up  to  take  hold  on 
God  ?  God  gives  his  Holy  Spirit  to  them  that  ask 
him.  Who  asks  him  ?  In  the  secret  of  his  closet, 
amid  the  sacredness  of  his  domestic  altar,  amid  the 
sweetness  of  Christian  fellowship,  who  asks  him  ? 
Who  asks  him  humbly,  fervently,  importunately  ? 
Who  asks  the  more  importunately,  because  he  is 
for  a  time  denied  ?  Who  wrestles  with  the  angel 
of  the  covenant,  and  to  the  forbidding  words  "  Let 
me  go,"  replies  with  Jacob,  "  No,  I  will  not  let 
thee  go,  except  thou  bless  me  ?" 

And  who  grieves  and  resists  this  Holy  Ghost  ? 
Who  shuts  his  eyes  when  the  finger  of  God  thus 
opens  them  ?  Who,  when  God  speaks  thus  audi- 
bly, stops  his  ear  ?  Who,  when  God  touches  his 
conscience,  hardens  it  to  adamant,  and  "  always  re- 
sists the  Holy  Ghost  ?"  Though  he  comes  down 
from  his  high  abode  to  make  their  bodies  tem- 
ples for  himself  to  dwell  in;  though  he  would 
restore  their  polluted  minds  to  the  image  of  their 


186      THE   FIRST   WITHDRAWMENT  OF   THE  SPIRIT. 

Maker  ;  though  he  would  make  them  the  servants 
and  children  of  God ;  though  he  would  give  them 
all  the  blessings  of  Jesus'  love,  and  fit  them  for  the 
residence,  the  employments,  the  blessedness  of 
saints  and  seraphs  before  the  throne ;  yet  they 
resist  him.  Others  have  done  so  before  them,  and 
have  gone  to  their  last  account.  And  where  are 
they  now ;  while  those  with  whom  he  still  strives 
occupy  this  world  of  hope,  have  their  place  in 
his  sanctuary,  and  so  near  the  mercy-seat  ? 

Yet  did  the  God,  thus  long-suffering  and  gra- 
cious, early  say,  "  My  Spirit  shall  not  always  strive 
with  man."  This  is  among  the  first  lessons  he  ever 
gave  to  the  world.  Men  may  resist  him,  and  he 
may  depart.  They  may  resist  him,  and  never 
hear  his  voice  again,  till  the  last  trumpet  calls 
them  to  the  judgment. 

With  what  unutterable  tenderness  did  the 
Psalmist  once  say,  "Take  not  thy  Holy  Spirit 
from  me  !"  Why  should  others  be  brought  into 
the  kingdom  of  God,  and  the  reader  be  left  out  ? 
Why  should  others  die  in  peace,  and  his  death- 
bed be  curtained  with  gloom  and  despair  ?  Why 
shall  others,  on  the  morning  of  the  resurrec- 
tion, rise  to  glory,  honor,  immortality,  and  he  rise 
to  shame  and  everlasting  contempt  ?  And  when 
the  wicked  shall  be  severed  from  among  the  just, 
and  the  Lord  of  the  harvest  shall  gather  the  wheat 
into  his  garner,  and  burn  up  the  chaff  with  un- 


THE  FIRST  WITHDRAWMENT  OF  THE  SPIRIT.      187 

quenchable  fire ;  why  should  the  reader  mourn  at 
the  last,  and  take  up  that  bitter  lamentation, 
"  The  harvest  is  past,  and  the  summer  is  ended, 
and  I  am  not  saved  !" 


CHAPTER    XXI. 

$jj!  /irat   Jlntinnal  €nm. 

We  have  reason  to  believe,  from  no  doubtful 
intimations,  that  the  excessive  corruption  of  the 
age  before  the  Deluge  was,  in  no  small  degree,  to 
be  attributed  to  the  debased  and  vitiated  state  of 
the  social  relations.  When,  after  the  flood,  the 
population  of  this  earth  was  confined  to  a  single 
family,  and  the  world  was  about  to  start  afresh  in 
its  great  career,  it  was  the  special  care  of  its  great 
Lawgiver  to  throw  around  these  relations  the 
guardianship  of  his  own  almighty  providence. 
And  he  did  so,  by  inculcating  a  most  affecting  les- 
son, and  one  that  sends  its  solemn  tones  of  admo- 
nition to  the  remotest  generations  of  men. 

The  narrative  is  brief,  and  though  we  have  ad- 
verted to  it  before,  we  will  transcribe  it  at  length. 
"  And  the  sons  of  Noah,  that  went  forth  from  the 
ark,  were  Shem,  Ham,  and  Japheth  ;  and  Ham  is 
the  father  of  Canaan.  These  are  the  three  sons 
of  Noah ;  and  of  them  was  the  whole  earth  over- 


THE  FIRST  NATIONAL  CURSE.  189 

spread.  And  Noah  began  to  be  an  husbandman, 
and  he  planted  a  vineyard ;  and  he  drank  of  the 
wine,  and  was  drunken;  and  he  was  uncovered 
within  his  tent.  And  Hani,  the  father  of  Canaan, 
saw  the  nakedness  of  his  father,  and  told  his  two 
brethren  without.  And  Shem  and  Japheth  took 
a  garment,  and  laid  it  upon  both  their  shoulders, 
and  went  backward,  and  covered  the  nakedness 
of  their  father ;  and  their  faces  were  backward 
and  they  saw  not  their  father's  nakedness.  And 
Noah  awoke  from  his  wine,  and  knew  what  his 
younger  son  had  done  unto  him.  And  he  said, 
Cursed  be  Canaan;  a  servant  of  servants  shall  he 
be  unto  his  brethren.  And  he  said,  Blessed  be  the 
Lord  God  of  Shem,  and  Canaan  shall  be  Ms  ser- 
vant. God  shall  enlarge  Japheth,  and  he  shall 
dwell  in  the  tents  of  Shem ;  and  Canaan  shall  be 
his  servant." 

It  is  not  necessary  for  our  purpose,  to  animad- 
vert on  the  scurrility  of  infidels  in  regard  to  the 
conduct  of  Noah ;  nor  is  it  any  part  of  our  design 
to  justify  or  palliate  that  conduct.  When  he 
awoke  from  his  wine,  he  was  directed  by  God  to 
testify  the  divine  disapprobation  of  the  unfilial 
spirit  and  deportment  of  Ham  by  pronouncing  a 
curse  upon  him  and  his  posterity ;  while  by  the 
same  direction  he  pronounced  a  blessing  upon  Shem 
and  Japheth,  and  their  descendants.  Ham  saw  his 
father's  nakedness,  and  went  and  proclaimed  it;  and 


190  THE  FIRST  NATIONAL  CURSE. 

God  cursed  him,  and  gave  the  curse  a  tremendous 
sweep  through  unknown  ages  of  time.  Shem  and 
Japheth  turned  from  it,  refused  to  look  at  the 
mournful  spectacle  of  a  father's  shame,  covered  it 
up  from  the  eyes  of  men ;  and  God  blessed  them, 
and  made  them  their  brother's  master.  Three 
times  is  this  blessing  and  this  curse  repeated ;  and 
most  abundantly  has  both  the  promise  and  the 
curse  been  fulfilled. 

Shem  is  the  first  named  in  the  sacred  narrative, 
in  this  act  of  filial  honor;  and  his  descendants 
were  eminently  the  favored  race.  He  was  the 
progenitor  of  the  wide-spread  Hebrew  nation — a 
people  renowned  in  literature,  in  arts,  in  arms,  in 
wealth  and  intelligence — a  people  that  once  pos- 
sessed power — a  people  from  whom  the  Saviour 
of  men  was  descended,  and  who  were  the  selected 
depositary  and  dispensers  of  divine  truth  to  all 
the  nations  of  the  earth — a  people,  who,  notwith- 
standing their  present  abjectness  and  dispersion, 
hold  the  purse-strings  of  the  world,  and  are  des- 
tined to  resume  their  former  piety  and  greatness. 
"Salvation  is  of  the  Jews."  What  has  not  the 
race  of  Shem  performed  in  the  great  work  of 
covering  the  shame  of  men ! 

Ja/pheth,  who  was  the  prompt  auxiliary  in  this 
work  of  filial  honor,  was  to  be  enlarged :  he  was 
"  to  dwell  in  the  tents  of  Shem."  The  great  na- 
tions of  the  earth,  both  of  ancient  and  modern 


THE  FIRST  NATIONAL  CURSE.  191 

times,  are  either  the  descendants  of  Japheth,  or  the 
descendants  of  the  extensively  mingled  races  of 
Shem  and  Ham,  not  in  the  line  of  Canaan.  The 
superiority  of  Europe  over  other  parts  of  the  earth 
is  the  fulfilment  of  this  promise. 

Ham  was  to  be  the  "  servant  of  servants  to  his 
brethren."  His  descendants,  in  the  line  of  Canaan, 
were  the  accursed  race.  Other  portions  of  his 
posterity  were  a  more  favored  people;  but  the 
descendants  of  Canaan  were  under  the  curse. 

It  is  not  an  easy  matter,  in  the  present  age  of 
the  world,  to  define,  with  precision,  the  line  which 
separates  the  families  of  Japheth  from  all  the 
branches  of  the  family  of  Shem.  But,  considering 
the  nature  of  the  subject,  it  is  less  difficult  to  point 
out  the  difference  between  the  descendants  of  Ca- 
naan and  the  other  two  races.  It  is  less  difficult  in  a 
geographical  view,  if  we  patiently  follow  out  the 
intimations  of  the  sacred  historian  in  the  tenth 
chapter  of  the  book  of  Genesis.  And  it  is  less 
difficult  in  a  physiological  view.  As  one  of  the 
three  integral  parts  of  the  human  family,  they  have 
for  the  most  part  been  kept  distinct  from  the  rest 
of  mankind.  So  far  as  my  own  inquiries  have  been 
extended,  they  have  never  been  able  to  make  any 
independent  settlement  in  Europe.  From  the 
operation  of  causes,  the  consideration  of  which  is 
foreign  to  our  present  purpose,  they  form  the  dark- 
colored  race,  the  negro  family.     On  them  the  curse 


192  THE  FIRST  NATIONAL  CURSE. 

rests  ;  they  were  to  be  the  "  servant  of  servants"  to 
the  other  races.  And  the  curse  has  been  executed. 
As  early  as  the  days  of  Joshua,  one  of  the  tribes — 
the  Gibeonites — who  by  craft  obtained  a  league 
with  their  conqueror,  was  condemned  to  perpetual 
servitude,  and  he  made  them  "  hewers  of  wood  and 
drawers  of  water"  to  the  people  of  Israel.  It  is  a 
fact,  I  believe,  well  ascertained,  that  those  of  these 
seven  nations  who  were  not  extirpated  by  Joshua, 
were  ultimately  driven  into  Africa.  What  their 
history  has  been  since,  many  a  dark  page,  depict- 
ing in  glowing  colors  their  own  cupidity  and  cru- 
elty, as  well  as  the  cruelty  and  cupidity  of  the 
other  races,  has  disclosed.  It  is  a  tale  of  "  mourn- 
ing, lamentation,  and  woe."  They  have  been  scat- 
tered over  the  earth ;  they  are  found  among  our- 
selves ;  but  whether  as  slaves  or  as  hired  servants, 
whether  educated  or  uneducated,  they  are,  as  a 
race,  "  hewers  of  wood  and  drawers  of  water." 

Writers  on  the  natural  history  of  man,  have 
perplexed  themselves  to  assign  the  cause  of  this 
degradation  of  the  descendants  of  Canaan.  We 
do  not  question  the  operation  of  physical  causes, 
because  the  righteous  Lawgiver  makes  use  of  phys- 
ical causes  to  fulfil  his  penal  decrees.  It  is  enough 
for  us  to  have  ascertained  the  moral  cause  of  this 
affecting  degradation  ;  and  to  find  it  in  that  great 
law  of  the  divine  government  which  began  to  be 
thus  early  executed,  and  which  affirms  that  a  jeal- 


THE  FIRST   NATIONAL  CURSE.  193 

ous  God  "  visits  the  iniquity  of  the  fathers  upon 
the  children  unto  the  third  and  fourth  generations 
of  them  that  hate  him."  The  curse  upon  Canaan 
is  the  curse  of  God  upon  filial  disobedience  and 
contempt ;  the  blessing  upon  Shem  and  Japheth 
is  God's  blessing  upon  filial  obedience  and  honor. 

There  is  no  bein«:  in  the  universe  but  has  claims 
upon  other  beings  ;  they  are  sacred  claims.  God 
has  his  rights  ;  men,  too,  have  theirs.  It  is  among 
the  convincing  proofs  of  God's  goodness,  that 
he  has  not  turned  away  in  indifference  and  dis- 
gust from  this  abject  and  revolted  race,  but 
consents  to  govern  them,  and  stands  forth  as  the 
guardian  and  protector  of  the  rights  of  men,  and 
the  avenger  of  their  wrongs.  He  makes  their 
claims  his  own,  and  gives  them  distinctly  to  under- 
stand that  he  holds  them  responsible,  not  only  for 
their  treatment  of  him,  but  their  treatment  of  one 
another. 

The  mutual  dependencies  and  relations  of  the 
race,  have  their  origin  in  the  domestic  circle.  Do 
what  we  will  for  the  race  in  other  ways ;  every 
other  stream  will  be  turbid,  if  this  fountain  be  left 
impure.  Nor  is  there  any  relation,  the  rights  of 
which  are  more  watchfully  protected  by  the  au- 
thority, the  truth,  and  the  providence  of  God,  than 
those  which  thus  form  the  great  elements  of  human 
society.  The  supreme  Lawgiver  guards  the  rights 
of  the  ruler  and  the  subject,  of  the  teacher  and  the 


194  THE  FIRST   NATIONAL   CURSE. 

pupil,  and  of  the  husband  and  the  wife.  He  guards 
the  rights  of  the  child ;  and  he  also  guards  the  rights 
of  the  parent.  The  sacred  names  of  father  and 
mother  are  not  with  him  of  little  import.  He  has 
given  them  a  place  in  his  Law  ;  he  engraved  them 
with  his  own  finger  on  the  tablet  of  stone ;  he 
placed  them  close  by  the  side  of  his  holy  Sabbath, 
and  threw  around  them  the  shield  of  those  mighty 
thunderings,  and  those  vivid  lightnings,  and  that 
angel's  trump,  and  that  mountain  smoking,  which, 
when  the  people  of  Israel  saw, "  they  removed  and 
stood  afar  off." 

Filial  piety  begins  in  the  heart ;  where  all  right 
affections  begin.  It  is  of  little  use  for  a  child  to 
attempt  to  regulate  his  outward  conduct  toward 
his  parents,  so  long  as  he  takes  no  pains  to  regu- 
late his  inward  spirit.  If  he  has  disrespectful 
thoughts,  and  unkind  emotions  toward  them,  his 
conduct  will  be  very  apt  to  betray  him.  The  char- 
acter of  the  young  is,  in  this  respect,  transparent. 
Let  it  be  the  great  study  of  a  child,  in  his  treatment 
of  his  parents,  to  cherish  the  sentiments  of  love,  re- 
spect, and  reverence ;  and  they  will  not  fail  to  eradi- 
cate those  dissatisfied,  complaining,  untoward,  im- 
petuous, and  angry  passions,  which  so  often  express 
themselves  in  the  outward  deportment.  Hatred, 
contempt,  and  even  indifference  will  never  give 
birth  to  honorable  conduct.  Such  emotions  may 
be  restrained  by  motives  that  are  mercenary,  by 


THE  FIRST  NATIONAL   CURSE.  195 

pride  of  character,  or  by  the  strong  hand  of  pow- 
er ;  but  so  long  as  they  lurk  in  the  heart,  they  will 
neutralize,  if  they  do  not  poison  all  true  frankness 
and  ingenuousness  of  character.  The  rash  and  un- 
governable spirit  that  will  not  brook  restraint; 
the  proud  and  haughty  spirit  that  will  not  submit 
to  be  admonished,  and  not  even  counselled,  mark 
the  character  of  many  a  sullen  daughter  and  many 
a  disobedient  and  rebellious  son.  If  the  young 
do  not  nip  them  in  the  bud,  they  need  not  be  dis- 
appointed if  they  give  a  mournful  coloring  to  their 
future  history. 

A  child  may  be  bribed  to  think  well  of  his  pa- 
rents; while  all  these  sentiments  of  kindness  are 
very  apt  to  stop  where  the  gratification  stops. 
Where  filial  respect  and  honor  are  measured  by 
favors  and  benefits,  they  are  short-lived.  Pa- 
rents have  a  right  to  expect  from  their  children  a 
different  state  of  mind  from  this.  Neither  mer- 
cenary expectation,  nor  slavish  fear,  is  the  germ 
of  honorable  deportment;  it  grows  on  a  purer 
stock.  Just  as  love  to  God  produces  respect  and 
reverence  for  God,  so  does  filial  love  produce  re- 
spect and  reverence  for  parents.  There  is  a  great 
fault  either  in  the  conduct  of  the  parent,  or  the 
child,  where  the  generous  and  unembarrassed 
emotions  of  love  and  confidence  are  restrained 
and  subdued  in  the  bosom  of  the  young. 

We  know  there  are  wicked  parents,  cruel,  dis- 


196  THE  FIRST  NATIONAL  CURSE. 

honorable  and  dishopored  parents,  whom  it  is 
difficult  to  love,  respect,  and  confide  in.  Nor  can 
a  virtuous  child  love  and  respect  thern  for  these 
unhappy  qualities.  Yet  will  such  a  child  never 
forget  the  filial  relation.  He  will  be  grieved  for 
the  sins  of  his  parents ;  but  he  will  still  remember 
that  they  are  his  parents,  and  as  such,  he  will  hon- 
or them.  There  is  no  relaxation,  no  lifting  of  the 
bond  from  the  conscience  of  the  child,  on  account 
of  the  parent's  frailties.  It  is  not  a  child's  prov- 
ince to  sit  in  judgment  upon  a  parent's  faults  ;  but 
rather  to  weep  in  secret  over  them,  and  by  his 
filial  spirit  to  win  and  reform  those  whom  he  thus 
honors.  That  beautiful  incident,  which  is  recorded 
of  Shem  and  Japheth,  was  not  put  upon  the  sacred 
record  without  design.  There  are  few,  if  any  finer 
scenes  than  this,*exhibiting  as  it  does,  that  nice  ob- 
servance of  propriety,  that  susceptibility  to  a  pa- 
rent's honor,  that  scrupulousness  and  delicacy  of 
filial  affection,  that  are  above  praise.  Children 
are  sometimes  eager  in  watching  for  the  failings 
of  their  parents,  and  exult  in  the  opportunity  of 
reproaching  and  upbraiding  them;  but  it  is  a 
temptation  of  the  devil,  for  the  purpose  of  bring- 
ing upon  them  the  curse  of  Ham.  A  filial  spirit 
is  the  more  honorable  and  lovely  for  being  ex- 
pressed and  cherished  amid  such  discouragements. 
There  is  no  more  lovely  characteristic  in  a  child, 
and  no  brighter  adornment,   than  that  affection 


THE  FIRST  NATIONAL  CURSE.  197 

which  smiles  on  a  parent  who  is  unkind ;  that  re 
spect  and  reverence  which  bows  before  a  degraded 
parent ;  that  noble  generosity  of  mind,  that  deli- 
cate intellectual  and  moral  texture  which  turns  its 
back  upon  a  parent's  faults,  and  covers  them  from 
the  eye  of  the  scorner. 

Children  owe  their  parents  also  the  tribute  of 
affectionate  and  respectful  language.  "  A  fool's 
mouth  is  his  destruction,  and  his  lips  are  the  snare 
of  his  soul."  There  is  a  heedlessness  in  the  inter- 
course of  some  children  with  their  parents,  which 
is  not  indeed  always  a  true  index  of  their  spirit, 
and  which,  we  have  no  doubt,  leaves  a  false  im- 
pression upon  the  mind  of  an  observer.  There  are 
instances  in  which  this  unrestrained  familiarity  is 
carried  so  far,  that  it  borders  on  disrespect.  And 
though  it  may  be  too  late  for  the  parent  to  control 
it,  it  is  not  the  less  to  be  deplored. 

We  stand  in  doubt  of  the  spirit  of  the  age  in 
which  we  live,  when  we  hear  the  disrespectful  lan- 
guage which  we  are  sometimes  forced  to  hear  from 
the  lips  of  children  toward  their  parents.  The 
son  or  the  daughter  that  cannot  command  her 
tongue  in  the  presence  of  her  parents,  is  a  child 
that  causeth  shame. 

That  spirit  of  bold  contradiction  in  which  the 
young  sometimes  indulge  themselves,  is  a  degener- 
ata  and  degenerating  spirit ;  it  soon  becomes  con- 
tempt and  mockery.     Angry  emotions  may  be 


198  THE  FIRST  NATIONAL  CURSE. 

cherished  that  are  never  expressed,  and  that  cover 
the  face  of  an  ingenuous  child  with  blushes  as 
soon  as  he  detects  them.  Acts  of  overt  disobedi- 
ence such  a  child  may  have  been  guilty  of,  which, 
in  after  life,  it  wounds  an  honorable  mind  to  look 
back  upon.  But  what  child,  in  whose  bosom  a 
spark  of  filial  honor  remains,  is  not  humbled  at 
the  recollection  that  he  ever  indulged  himself  in 
words  of  reproach  and  impudence  toward  those 
whose  memory  he  loves  to  dwell  upon,  and  to 
whose  tenderness  and  care  he  is  so  much  indebted? 
We  scarcely  know  how  such  language  sounds; 
how  it  sounds  to  the  ear  of  a  well-educated  and 
courteous  stranger ;  how  it  sounds  in  the  ear  of 
heaven ;  and  only  know  that  it  is  music  to  the  ears 
of  bad  men,  and  triumph  among  fiends.  It  tells  a 
fearful  and  melancholy  tale,  whoever  hears  it.  A 
backbiting  tongue  is  the  mark  of  those  who  "  shall 
not  abide  in  God's  tabernacle,  nor  dwell  in  his 
holy  place.1'  The  tongue  of  man  is  his  glory ;  it 
is  one  of  the  great  peculiarities  by  which  he  is 
distinguished  from  the  lower  orders  of  the  animal 
creation.  With  deep  and  tender  interest  do  pa- 
rents watch  this  growing  power  of  speech  in  their 
children ;  and  when  that  beautiful  and  expressive 
faculty  which  they  have  so  assiduously  cultivated, 
and  so  proudly  elicited,  utters  its  words  of  con- 
tradiction, reproach,  and  mockery,  the  wound  is 


THE  FIRST  NATIONAL  CURSE.  199 

deeper  than  though  it  were  made  by  a  drawn 
sword. 

To  speak  with  uniform  respect  to  their  parents, 
and  of  their  parents ;  never  to  allow  themselves 
in  irreverent  raillery  at  their  parents'  expense,  even 
amid  the  scenes  of  their  more  secluded  mirth ;  to 
resist,  at  the  onset,  the  temptation  to  passionate 
and  provoking  language,  however  great  the  cause 
of  provocation  ;  to  repress  all  words  of  malice  and 
of  the  "  scorners  who  delight  in  their  scorning ;" 
to  set  a  "  watch  upon  the  door  of  his  lips,"  and 
cultivate  that  courtesy  which  shrinks  from  wound- 
ing a  parent's  feelings  by  an  incautious,  or  un- 
guarded word ;  is  a  tribute  of  respect  which  no 
dutiful  child  withholds. 

Children  honor  their  parents  likewise  hj  filial 
and  dutiful  deportment.  The  language  of  the  Bi- 
ble on  this  topic  cannot  be  misunderstood.  It  is 
addressed  to  us  in  such  forms  as  these: — "Chil- 
dren, obey  your  parents  in  the  Lord;  children, 
obey  your  parents  in  all  things ;  for  this  is  well 
pleasing  unto  the  Lord."  "  Hear  ye  children  the 
instruction  of  a  father,  and  attend  to  know  under- 
standing." "  A  son  honoreth  his  father."  In  car- 
rying out  the  spirit  of  these  instructions,  they  say, 
"Hearken  unto  the  father  that  begat  thee,  and 
despise  not  thy  mother  when  she  is  old."  The 
same  general  sentiment,  though  of  more  compre- 
hensive import,  is  beautifully  expressed  by  that 


200  THE  FIRST  NATIONAL  CURSE 

requisition  of  the  Levitical  law,  "  Thou  shalt  rise 
up  before  the  hoary  head,  and  honor  the  face  of 
the  old  man." 

These  tokens  of  outward  respect,  this  docility, 
obedience,  and  kindness  even  to  old  age,  con- 
stitute the  great  features  of  that  external  deport- 
ment which  marks  the  filial  character.  A  filial 
spirit  is  an  obedient  spirit ;  nor  is  it  anywhere  so 
severely  brought  to  the  test  as  by  that  absolute 
submission  which  is  due  to  parental  authority. 

The  disposition  of  children,  in  this  article  of 
their  deportment,  is  widely  different.  Some  there 
are  who  bluster  and  talk  stoutly  against  submis- 
sion to  parental  authority,  and  who  for  the  mo- 
ment refuse  to  obey ;  but  who,  like  the  young  man 
in  the  parable,  "  afterwards  repent,"  and  do  what 
they  are  required  to  perform.  Others  there  are, 
who  are  all  courtesy  and  smiles  in  the  presence  of 
their  parents  ;  and  who,  while  they  never  utter  a 
disrespectful  word,  yet  go  away  and  persevere  in 
their  quiet  and  noiseless  disobedience.  We  justify 
not  the  reluctant  obedience  of  the  former;  but 
"  of  the  twain,"  it  is  the  former  who  does  the  will 
of  his  parents.  Few  things  are  more  grievous  to 
a  parent  than  the  silent,  unobtrusive  and  obstinate 
disobedience  of  the  child  whose  language  is,  "  I  go, 
sir,  but  went  not."  No  child  honors  his  parents 
like  the  one  who  promptly  obeys.  Whatever  else 
such  a  child  may  be  tempted  to  do,  he  never  thinks 


THE  FIRST  NATIONAL  CURSE.  201 

of  disobeying  his  parents;  his  parents'  will,  clearly 
expressed,  is  to  him  invariable  law. 

Nor  does  he  ever  outgrow  their  authority  where 
it  is  lawfully  exercised.  And  even  where  the  pa- 
rents cease  to  exercise  it,  there  are  filial  duties. 
There  are  the  sentiments  of  reverence  and  kind- 
ness ;  there  is  respect  for  the  opinions  of  parents, 
and  deference  to  their  wishes.  In  the  frailty  of 
old  age,  it  may  be  amid  misfortune  and  calamity, 
poverty  and  dependence,  there  is  a  strength  of 
filial  devotion  that  is  gratified  by  ministering  to 
parental  wants  and  comforts,  and  there  is  a  ten- 
derness, an  honest  pride,  that  are  gratified  only  by 
such  tributes  of  affection. 

With  a  single  exception,  the  authority  of  the 
parent  is  absolute  and  universal.  The  child  is 
relieved  from  his  obligation  to  obedience,  only 
where  the  law  of  the  parent  comes  in  collision  with 
the  law  of  God.  He  may  enter  into  relations 
which  modify,  and  in  some  particulars  supersede 
his  filial  relations ;  the  daughter  may  become  a 
wife  and  mother,  and  the  son  a  father  and  hus- 
band ;  and  these  latter  relations,  while  they  never 
annihilate,  obviously  modify  the  filial  relation. 
Where  the  duty  of  the  wife  and  the  mother  in- 
terferes with  the  duty  of  the  daughter ;  or  that 
of  the  husband  and  father  interferes  with  that  of 
the  son ;  the  daughter  is  more  the  wife  and  the 
mother  than  she  is  the  daughter,  and  the  son  is 


202  THE  FIRST  NATIONAL  CURSE. 

more  the  husband  and  father,  than  he  is  the  son. 
Collisions  of  this  sort  are  very  rare ;  where  all  the 
parties  are  wise,  they  will  indeed  never  be  found 
to  exist ;  but  where  they  do  exist,  the  law  of  God 
relieves  the  child  from  his  obligation  to  his  pa- 
rents. The  wife  must  obey  the  husband,  rather 
than  the  father ;  the  husband  must  forsake  father 
and  mother,  and  "  cleave  unto  his  wife."  In  all 
cases,  God's  law  is  the  paramount  rule ;  and  wher- 
ever the  parent  is  either  so  weak,  or  so  wicked,  as 
to  require  what  God  has  forbidden,  or  forbid  what 
God  has  required ;  the  child  is  under  no  obliga- 
tion to  obey.  If  the  parent,  for  example,  com- 
mands his  child  to  steal,  to  curse  and  to  swear,  or 
to  profane  the  Sabbath ;  or  if  he  forbids  the  child 
from  worshipping  God,  or  from  becoming  a  pro- 
fessed disciple  of  Jesus  Christ,  or  from  reading  the 
Bible ;  it  is  the  duty  of  the  child,  meekly,  but 
firmly,  to  obey  God  rather  than  man.  The  pa- 
rents' claims  are,  and  ever  must  be,  subordinate  to 
God's.  "  Henceforth,"  says  the  Apostle,  "  we  know 
no  man  after  the  flesh."  "  He  that  loveth  father, 
or  mother,"  says  the  Saviour,  "  more  than  me,  is 
not  worthy  of  me."  The  ties  of  kindred  must 
give  way  to  the  ties  of  faith  and  love;  every 
earthly  consideration  and  alliance  must  bow  to  his 
claims  who  is  our  fathers'  God,  as  well  as  our  God. 
Here  the  limitation  ceases.  Submission  may  be 
unpleasant ;  it  may,  and  sometimes  is,  not  a  little 


THE  FIRST  NATIONAL  CURSE.  203 

trying  to  the  feelings  of  the  child ;  it  may  coun- 
tervail his  judgment,  and  he  may  consider  his  pa- 
rents in  error  ;  but  so  long  as  it  crosses  not  an  en- 
lightened conscience,  a  dutiful  child,  while  he 
modestly  retains  his  own  convictions,  will  yield. 
He  will  consent  to  suffer  in  his  feelings,  his  plans, 
his  judgment,  his  interests,  rather  than  be  diso- 
bedient. 

On  this  topic,  I  may  not  suppress  the  remark, 
that  in  all  these  expressions  of  affection  and  honor, 
both  parents  are  entitled  to  share.  Not  more  filial 
honor  is  due  to  the  father,  than  to  the  mother ; 
the  law  of  God  makes  no  difference.  He  guards 
the  gentle,  the  weak,  and  the  more  affectionate. 
A  mother's  claims  are  like  a  mother's  watchful  and 
unceasing  tenderness. 

It  is  recorded  to  the  lasting  disgrace  of  the 
great  Roman  orator  and  statesman,  and  who  next 
to  Seneca  and  Cato,  the  censor,  was  one  of  the 
best  men  that  Rome  could  boast  of;  that  in  all  his 
writings  he  never  mentions  his  mother.  Not  far 
from  a  thousand  of  his  letters  to  his  familiar 
friends  are  now  extant,  but  though  she  lived  to  be 
the  witness  of  her  son's  advancement,  and  was  her- 
self a  lady  of  patrician  rank,  the  sacred  name  of 
mother  is  not  found  among  them  all.  This  is  pa- 
ganism ;  it  is  refined  and  polished  paganism ;  but 
it  is  not  the  religion  of  the  Bible. 

"  Honor  thy  father  and  thy  mother  ;"  "  children, 


204  THE  FIRST  NATIONAL   CURSE. 

obey  your  parents  f  this  is  the  language  of  God's 
word ;  it  is  the  spirit  of  the  whole  Book.  Of  the 
mother  it  is  said,  "  Her  children  shall  rise  up  and 
call  her  blessed."  Solomon,  when  he  was  exalted 
to  the  throne  of  Israel,  "  rose  up  to  meet  his 
mother,  and  bowed  himself  unto  her,  and  sat  down 
on  his  throne,  and  caused  a  seat  to  be  placed  for 
the  king's  mother,  and  she  sat  on  his  right  hand." 
This  is  Bible  religion.  When  Jesus  of  Nazareth 
hung  on  the  cross,  he  did  not  forget  his  mother. 
Amid  the  horrors  of  that  scene  which  put  out  the 
sun,  and  shook  terribly  the  earth ;  it  was  not  a 
grave  for  himself  that  he  thought  of,  but  a  home 
for  her.  Among  the  three  last  sentences  he  ut- 
tered, were  these  touching  words,  "  Woman,  be- 
hold thy  son ;"  and  then  turning  to  the  disciple 
whom  he  loved,  "  Behold  thy  mother."  This  is 
Christianity. 

Sacred  are  the  thoughts,  holy  the  memories 
that  are  associated  with  the  name  of  mother.  Had 
she  youth  and  vigor;  they  were  exhausted  in 
watching  over  the  cradle  of  her  children,  or  toil- 
ing while  they  slept,  or  were  at  play.  Had  she 
beauty ;  she  veiled  it  but  to  the  eye  of  her  chil- 
dren; it  withered  in  making  them  beautiful. 
Had  she  accomplishments,  and  was  she  fitted  to 
shine  in  the  circles  of  gaiety  and  fashion;  she 
sought  not  these  distinctions,  it  was  her  highest 
ambition  to  be  employed  in  the   culture  of  her 


THE  FIRST  NATIONAL  CURSE.  205 

children.  Had  she  a  taste  for  amusements ;  her 
children  were  her  joy,  she  studied  to  subdue 
every  rival  claim,  that  her  time,  and  thoughts,  and 
all  her  fine  perceptions  might  be  devoted  to  her 
children.  Had  she  prayers;  they  were  offered 
for  her  children.  Had  she  tears,  it  was  for  her 
children  she  shed  them  ;  smiles,  it  was  to  see  them 
smile  ;  fears,  it  was  to  shield  them  from  apprehen- 
sion; hopes  and  endeared  objects  to  secure,  it 
was  that  they  might  be  a  credit  to  themselves,  to 
their  parents,  and  to  their  race.  Did  she  suffer ; 
it  was  for  them,  and  so  far  as  it  could  be,  that 
they  might  not  suffer ;  and  did  she  die,  it  was 
with  their  names  upon  her  heart,  and  with  lips 
pallid  and  cold,  that  she  gave  them  her  bless- 
ing. 

I  know  not  what  to  think  of  the  child  who  al- 
lows himself  to  trifle  with  a  mother's  claims.  Yet 
have  I  seen  such  children,  and  have  marked  them. 
"  Proud  and  haughty  scorner  is  his  name,"  who 
scorns  a  mother's  authority.  That  son  is  to  be 
held  in  very  low  estimate  who  is  emboldened  to 
disregard  a  mother's  wishes,  or  resist  her  com* 
mands,  merely  because  God  has  given  him  the 
more  physical  strength.  He  gains  the  victory, 
but  alas!  such  victories  do  but  effect  his  ruin. 
There  are  few  indications  of  a  more  rash,  obdu- 
rate, and  depraved  mind,  than  is  expressed  in  un- 
filial  and  undutiful  deportment  toward  her  who 


206  THE  FIRST  NATIONAL  CURSE. 

bare  and  cherished  him,  and  who,  if  she  has  had 
anything  to  live  for,  it  has  been  in  and  for  her 
children. 

These  are  plain  and  weighty  duties,  and  there 
are  not  wanting  plain  and  weighty  considerations 
to  enforce  them.  They  are  not  the  sympathies  of 
our  readers  which  we  would  fain  enlist  in.  this 
part  of  our  subject,  so  much  as  their  conscience. 
We  ask  an  unperverted  and  honest  conscience  to 
judge  of  these  obligations,  and  make  an  appeal  to 
them  to  follow  its  dictates.  No  conscience  is  be- 
yond the  reach  of  conviction  on  such  a  subject ; 
nor  is  there  a  child  or  youth  so  fro  ward  that  he 
can  live  an  easy  and  quiet  life  in  persevering  dis- 
obedience to  his  parents,  if  he  will  give  a  candid 
hearing,  and  a  due  consideration  to  the  following 
plain  and  obvious  thoughts. 

Among  other  reasons  why  this  debt  of  children 
to  their  parents  ought  to  be  paid,  is  the  fact  that 
it  is  created  by  the  law  of  nature,  and  enforced  by 
the  revealed  law  of  God. 

The  law  creating  it  is  founded  in  the  superiority 
of  the  parent,  and  the  inferiority  of  the  child.  All 
men  allow  that  this  law  exists.  It  is  a  palpable  revolt 
against  nature  to  question  either  the  parent's  claim 
or  the  child's  duty.  The  most  disobedient  child  no 
sooner  becomes  a  parent,  than  he  requires  the  duty 
and  enforces  the  claim.  The  obligation  is  founded 
in  natural  sentiment,  and  demanded  by  its.  own 


THE  FIRST  NATIONAL  CURSE.  207 

reasonableness.  The  obligation  of  justice,  truth, 
and  benevolence  is  not  more  real,  nor  more  ob- 
vious, than  this  obligation  of  filial  honor.  Men  in 
their  wildest  and  most  savage  state  recognize  it ; 
sages  and  philosophers  who  had  but  a  mere  ray 
of  that  moral  sentiment  which  the  Sun  of  Right- 
eousness has  thrown  upon  Christian  lands,  recog- 
nize it.  So  absolute  did  they  regard  the  parent's 
authority,  that  the  laws  of  pagan  lands,  not  a  few, 
invested  the  parent  even  with  the  power  of  life  and 
death  over  his  children.  The  parent  is  not  more 
the  natural  guardian  of  his  child,  than  he  is  his 
natural  lawgiver. 

This  law  of  nature  is  nothing  less  than  the  law 
of  God  ;  it  is  God's  voice  speaking  in  nature,  de- 
livering this  edict  through  human  reason,  and  en- 
forcing it  by  the  natural  impressions  of  the  human 
mind.  He  utters  the  same  voice  in  the  sacred 
writings.  The  natural  relation  between  the  parent 
and  the  child  is  the  groundwork  of  that  revealed 
precept,  "  Honor  thy  father  and  thy  mother ;" 
"  children,  obey  your  parents  in  the  Lord."  This 
is  God's  law,  who  alone  has  a  right  to  give  law  to 
all  the  inhabitants,  and  all  the  families  of  the 
earth.  Children  may  be  tempted  to  think  that 
their  parents  usurp  authority  over  them ;  but  it 
is  authority  which  God,  the  great  Lawgiver,  has 
put  into  their  hands :  in  complaining  of  it,  they 
complain  of  God,  and  in  resisting  it,  they  resist  the 


208  THE  FIRST  NATIONAL  CURSE. 

ordinance  of  God.  The  duty  of  submission  to  it 
is  as  plain  as  it  can  be  made  by  the  revealed  will 
of  the  almighty  Legislator ;  revolt  from  it  is  re- 
bellion against  the  Lord  and  proprietor  of  all 
things,  and  may  well  be  followed  by  deep  convic- 
tions of  conscience,  and  deep  repentance. 

Nor  is  it  an  arbitrary  law.  "  Obey  your  pa- 
rents in  the  Lord,"  says  the  apostle,  "for  this  is 
right"  It  ought  to  satisfy  us  that  God  wills  filial 
obedience,  and  that  his  wisdom  and  goodness  stand 
pledged  for  the  rectitude,  the  excellence  of  the 
precept.  But  the  Lawgiver  condescends  to  vin- 
dicate this  law.  And  who  will  challenge  either 
its  excellence  or  wisdom  ?  Every  virtuous  mind 
approves  it ;  no  child  looks  upon  it  as  arbitrary  or 
oppressive,  whose  reason  is  not  perverted,  and 
whose  conscience  and  heart  are  not  steeled  against 
all  right  influences.  The  domestic  relations  need 
such  a  law,  to  preserve  them  from  anarchy  ;  the 
young  need  it,  to  keep  them  from  premature  ruin  ; 
the  world  needs  it,  else  it  would  be  ah  ungoverned 
world. 

It  deserves  consideration,  that  this  law  holds  the 
first  place  in  the  great  code  of  laws  which  relates 
to  the  duties  which  men  owe  to  one  another.  In 
the  first  table,  God  himself  holds  the  first  place,  as 
he  ought  to  do.  In  the  second  table,  obedience  to 
parents  holds  the  first  place ;  nor  are  there  want- 
ing important  reasons  for  giving  it  this  pre-emi- 


THE  FIRST  NATIONAL  CURSE.  209 

nence.  It  is  the  first  of  all  the  subordinate  rela- 
tians  among  men ;  it  lies  at  the  root  of  all  other 
relations  ;  and  where  the  spirit  of  insubordination 
exists  in  this  relation,  it  prevails  elsewhere. 

Next  to  the  divine  government,  the  first  gov- 
ernment instituted  in  every  age  of  time  is  the  pa- 
triarchal. So  inseparable  is  obedience  to  parents 
from  all  the  moral  and  social  virtues,  that  this 
command  has  universally  been  regarded  by  ethical 
writers  as  comprehending  all  those  duties  which 
grow  out  of  the  various  relations  of  human  society. 
The  relation  between  parent  and  child  is  the  semi- 
nal relation  between  the  government  and  the  sub- 
ject, the  master  and  the  servant,  the  guardian  and 
the  ward,  the  superior  and  the  subordinate. 

If  the  spirit  and  habits  of  insubordination  are 
not  formed  in  early  life,  the  probability  is,  that 
they  will  never  be  formed.  The  man  struggles 
with  his  exacting  will  and  his  imperious  passions, 
because  the  child  did  not  struggle  with  them  ;  and 
he  remains  an  uncomfortable  and  jostling  member 
of  society,  because  he  was  not  trimmed  into  shape, 
and  form,  and  order,  in  the  days  of  his  youth. 
His  character  is  formed,  not  by  talent  merely  ;  nor 
yet  by  genius  and  industry  ;  but  in  close  alliance 
with  these,  by  that  vigorous  self-discipline  and 
self-control  which  commences,  and  is,  in  no  small 
degree,  perfected  by  his  filial  obedience. 

That  impatience  of  restraint  and  headlong  im- 


210  THE   FIRST  NATIONAL   CURSE. 

pulsiveness  in  a  certain  class  of  minds,  and  that 
sullen  and  dogged  obduracy  in  another  class,  on 
which  such  multitudes  make  shipwreck,  is  here 
restrained  and  subdued.  There  is  a  large  class  of 
persons  that  will  not  be  taught  except  by  experi- 
ence ;  and  it  is  pity  that  they  are  not  taught  in 
early  life.  The  mass  of  those  who  learn  the  lesson 
at  a  later  period,  usually  learn  it  by  experience 
dearly  bought.  If  the  testimony  of  others  does  not 
influence  them;  if  their  own  observation  does  not; 
if  the  wrecks  of  fortune  and  fame  which  the  tide  of 
ungoverned  passion  has  thrown  upon  the  lee-shore 
of  human  life  do  not,  and  they  abandon  themselves 
to  the  tardy  correction  of  their  own  errors  ;  this  one 
thing  is  certain,  that  they  must  be  sufferers.  Noth- 
ing will  teach  them  but  suffering  ;  nor  is  it  the  less 
severe,  because  they  have  brought  it  upon  them- 
selves, nor  the  less  mortifyiug,  because  they  might 
have  avoided  it.  Well  will  it  be,  if  the  trials  they 
encounter,  and  the  shame  they  endure,  prove  not, 
like  the  punishment  of  Cain,  "  greater  than  they 
can  bear."  With  reduced  hopes,  and  abased 
pride,  they  sink  below  their  proper  level ;  below 
their  prospects  and  condition,  below  their  domes- 
tic alliances,  and  far  below  their  original  purposes. 
And  no  thanks  to  themselves,  and  it  may  be,  no 
thanks  to  their  parents,  if  they  are  not  at  last 
found  among  the  "  loafers"  of  society,  and  because 


THE  FIRST  NATIONAL  CURSE.  211 

more  and  more  exacting,  less  and  less  satisfied 
with  themselves  and  all  around  them. 

Good  citizens  are  formed  from  dutiful  children. 
Sons  are  good  husbands,  and  daughters  good  wives, 
who  first  learned  to  be  dutiful  children.  I  would 
never  seek  a  disobedient  daughter  for  a  wife ;  nor 
does  that  lady  give  proof  of  discernment,  who  ac- 
cepts a  disobedient  son  as  her  husband.  Were  I 
a  merchant,  I  would  not -seek  a  clerk;  were  I  a 
mechanic,  I  would  not  seek  an  apprentice ;  a  ship- 
master, I  would  not,  unless  it  were  from  motives 
of  compassion,  ship  a  seaman,  from  a  family  where 
children  had  never  learned  subordination  to  their 
parents.  Well-governed  families  are  the  best  se- 
curity for  a  well-governed  and  happy  community ; 
obedience  to  parents  is,  in  its  own  nature,  fitted  to 
form  such  a  community ;  and  more  especially  where 
this  early  habit  is  the  fruit  of  religious  training, 
that  dutiful  and  amiable  spirit  which  is  enjoined 
by  the  fifth  commandment  constitutes  one  of  the 
most  important  elements  of  moral  character.  It 
is  one  of  the  strongest  restraints  from  evil,  while 
the  honored  parent  lives;  and  even  long  after 
that  revered  head  sleeps  in  the  dust,  will  it  be 
found  one  of  the  great  conservative  principles  of 
the  child,  if  not  among  the  selectest  instrumental- 
ities of  leading  him  to  the  practice  of  godliness. 
Those  tears  are  not  shed  in  vain,  with  which  a 
dutiful  child  waters  his  parent's  grave;  on  that 


212  THE  FIRST  NATIONAL  CURSE. 

green  turf,  flowers  grow  that  never  lose  their 
bloom. 

This  debt  of  children  to  their  parents  is  also 
a  debt  of  honor.  The  claim  of  the  parent  is  one 
of  those  rights  which  can  never  be  perfectly  en- 
forced by  human  laws ;  no  human  authority  can 
enforce  the  fulfilment  of  this  sacred  obligation. 
It  makes  its  appeal  to  the  magnanimity  of  the 
child.  Laws  deeply  engraven  on  the  inner  man 
enforce  it.  It  is  the  adornment  of  the  child 
when  he  punctually  meets  the  claim.  He  has  no 
brighter  earthly  crown.  The  wreath  is  fresh  and 
green,  and  on  its  leaves  is  found  the  honey-dew 
of  his  youth.  "  My  son,  hear  the  instruction  of 
thy  father,  and  forsake  not  the  law  of  thy  moth- 
er ;  for  they  shall  be  an  ornament  of  grace  unto 
thy  head,  and  chains  about  thy  neck."  Vain 
ostentation  and  empty  decorations  are  they  which 
so  many  of  the  young  seek  after,  compared  with 
that  becoming,  filial  deportment,  which  wins  the 
affections  and  conciliates  the  confidence  of  the 
wise  and  good. 

For  the  consideration  and  respect  of  their  fellow- 
men,  the  young  are  more  beholden  to  their  filial 
character  and  deportment,  than  to  their  external 
condition.  We  respect  the  humble  child  of  pov- 
erty, who  honors  his  parents ;  while  we  have  no 
respect  for  the  proud  and  degenerate  progeny  of 
affluence,  who,  because  he  can  shake  his  purse  in 


THE  FIRST  NATIONAL  CURSE.  213 

the  face  of  his  parents,  despises  and  dishonors 
them.  What  lustre  does  it  throw  around  the 
character  of  a  child  that  he  uniformly  treats  his 
parents  with  affection  and  respect;  that  he  is 
watchful  of  their  claims  and  wishes,  and  even  jeal- 
ous of  himself,  and  timorous  lest  he  should  be  be- 
trayed into  rudeness,  or  even  into  those  unfilial 
faults  that  are  the  result  of  inattention  !  A  most 
beautiful  characteristic  of  a  well-bred  child,  is  this 
delicacy  of  filial  sentiment.  Sweet  is  the  remem- 
brance, as  he  looks  back  upon  by-gone  years,  if  he 
can  say  he  never  inflicted  a  pang  in  the  bosom  of 
his  parents.  Men  there  are  who  would  be  more 
grateful,  and  prouder  than  they  are,  if  they  could 
honestly  make  this  declaration  their  own.  I  may 
not  stop  to  analyze  it,  if  I  could ;  there  is  a  cord 
in  the  human  bosom,  every  fibre  of  which  vibrates 
to  this  claim  of  honor. 

We  dwell  on  such  recorded  instances  of  filial 
piety  with  pleasure ;  history  takes  pains  to  narrate 
them,  and  sometimes  with  more  than  her  usual 
beauty  and  elegance.  If  Virgil  had  purposed  to 
exhibit  the  hero  of  the  ^Enead  in  the  most  attrac- 
tive colors,  he  could  not  have  selected  a  finer  scene 
than  that  in  which  iEneas  is  represented  as  bear- 
ing on  his  shoulders  his  aged  and  blind  father 
Anchises  from  the  flames  of  Troy.  If  the  infirmi- 
ties and  decrepitude  of  old  age  meet  with  indiffer- 
ence anywhere,  let  it  not  be  found  in  the  bosom 


214  THE  FIRST  NATIONAL  CURSE. 

of  filial  partiality  and  tenderness.  Every  senti- 
ment of  honor  forbid  it!  When  a  Campanian 
lady  made  a  display  of  her  jewels  at  the  house  of 
Cornelia,  the  daughter  of  Scipio  Africanus,  and  en- 
treated her  to  favor  her  with  a  sight  of  her  own  in 
return  ;  she  produced  her  two  sons,  and  said,  Hcec 
mea  ornamental  these  are  my  jewels!  Roman 
resentment  could  not  quench  a  mother's  pride; 
and  while  it  sacrificed  the  two  Gracchi,  perpetuated 
their  fame. 

No  valley  of  human  life  is  so  humble,  nor  are 
any  of  its  scenes  so  tragic,  but  such  instances  of 
filial  attachment  give  beauty  to  the  vale,  and  in- 
terest to  the  tragedy.  The  most  beautiful  example 
of  this  is  found  in  the  conduct  of  One  with  whose 
character  you  are  all  familiar.  The  youthful  Son 
of  Mary  might  be  supposed  to  be  exempt  from 
this  obligation ;  yet  it  is  recorded  of  him,  that 
"  he  was  subject  to  his  parents."  He  acknowledged 
the  relationship,  and  he  paid  the  debt.  They  had 
caressed  and  nourished  him ;  they  had  cared  for 
him,  labored  for  him,  prayed  for  him ;  and  he 
honored  them.  Let  the  bold  and  froward  youth, 
who  is  never  shame-faced  except  at  the  unwelcome 
thought  of  submission  to  his  parents,  remember, 
that  He  whom  angels  worship,  was  honored  by 
honoring  his  father  and  his  mother. 

What  man  would  not  be  humbled  and  ashamed 
to  stand  over  his  parents'  tomb,  and  be  constrained 


THE  FIRST  NATIONAL  CURSE.  215 

to  remember  that  lie  had  lived  to  do  little  more 
than  grieve  and  dishonor  them  ?  All  sin  is  dis- 
honorable and  base ;  men  cannot  commit  it,  and 
respect  themselves,  or  be  respected.  The  apostle 
Paul,  in  enumerating  the  sins  of  the  heathen,  in- 
cludes filial  disobedience  in  the  same  category  with 
crimes  the  most  base  and  dishonorable : — "  Back- 
biters, haters  of  God,  despiteful,  proud,  boasters, 
inventors  of  evil  things,  disobedient  to  parents? 
An  honorable  mind  shrinks  from  such  associations. 
It  requires  great  hardihood  for  a  disobedient  child 
to  put  a  bold  face  upon  such  baseness.  The  con- 
sciousness of  it  disconcerts  him  ;  the  remembrance 
of  it  in  maturer  years  will  cover  his  face  with 
blushes.  It  gives  a  right-minded  man  a  low  opin- 
ion of  himself,  that  he  has  treated  his  parents  with 
disrespect  and  unkindness  ;  it  is  a  punishment  to 
him  to  think  of  it,  and  he  feels  a  secret  compunc- 
tion at  his  own  dishonor. 

Nor  is  this  all.  The  faithful  discharge  of  this 
filial  obligation  has  its  reward.  The  Apostle, 
speaking  of  the  precept  which  enjoins  filial  piety, 
remarks,  that  it  is  the  first  command  with  prom- 
ise ;"  intending  by  this  remark  to  give  emphasis 
to  the  thought,  that  however  God  might  more 
liberally  reward  the  obedience  of  a  pious  child 
hereafter,  it  should  not  be  without  its  reward  in 
the  present  world.  The  language  of  the  law  is, 
"  Honor  thy  father  and  thy  mother,  tlmt  thy  days 


216  THE   FIRST  NATIONAL   CURSE. 

may  be  long  in  the  land  which  the  Lord  thy  God 
giveth  thee."  As  a  general  rule  of  God's  provi- 
dence, long  life  and  prosperity  are  the  allotment 
of  dutiful  children.  There  are  no  doubt  moral 
causes  to  be  assigned  for  this  arrangement,  both 
remote  and  proximate  ;  because  a  dutiful  child  is 
more  usually  a  virtuous  man,  and  human  life  and 
comfort  are  not  a  little  dependent  on  those  moral 
virtues  which  grow  out  of  a  filial  spirit.  On  the 
other  hand,  an  undutiful  child  is  more  usually  a 
bad  and  vicious  man  ;  and  human  life  is  made  mis- 
erable and  shortened,  and  secular  enterprise  with- 
ers under  those  traits  of  immoral  character  which 
grow  out  of  a  spirit  that  is  unfilial. 

But  whatever  be  the  causes,  the  promise  itself 
is  made  good.  It  would  be  an  important  chapter 
in  political  economy,  which  should  patiently  trace 
the  connection  between  filial  piety  and  compe- 
tence, comfort,  and  usefulness ;  and  which  should 
also  trace  the  connection  between  poverty,  suffer- 
ing, disappointed  hopes,  and  a  premature  grave, 
and  disobedience  to  parents.  Could  we  lift  the 
veil  and  look  into  the  interior  of  the  domestic  re- 
lations, and  could  we  read  the  secret  history  of 
providence;  we  should  find  this  great  principle  of 
the  divine  government  abundantly  disclosed  and 
confirmed  by  facts.  We  hazard  little  in  saying, 
that  if  you  look  to  those  in  this  land,  in  this 
metropolis,  and  in  your  own  sphere  of  observation, 


THE  FIRST  NATIONAL  CURSE.  217 

who  prosper  in  the  world,  you  will  not  find  them 
among  those  who  grew  up  to  manhood  disobedient, 
contemptuous,  insolent  children. 

I  have  marked  the  history  of  many  rich  men, 
and  men  of  influence  in  this  community,  and  have 
inquired  into  the  history  of  others  ;  and  I  have  not 
found  one  among  them  all  who  was  the  grief  of 
his  parents.  God  approves  the  deportment  of  the 
dutiful  son  and  the  dutiful  daughter,  and  rewards 
it.  It  is  with  some  hesitation  that  the  writer  ut- 
ters what  he  is  now  about  to  say  ;  nor  would  he  do 
so,  if  the  families  to  which  he  refers  could  be  iden- 
tified by  any  of  his  readers.  It  may  be  supposed 
that  having,  for  more  than  forty  years,  the  charge 
of  a  large  congregation,  and  being  officially  familiar 
with  domestic  scenes  and  trials  not  a  few,  as  their 
pastor  and  counsellor,  he  should  have  treasured 
some  important  facts  on  this  painful  subject.  He 
has  done  so ;  and  in  looking  back  upon  those  who 
were  children  when  he  assumed  his  pastoral  charge, 
he  well  remembers  those  who  were  distinguished 
for  their  insubordinate  spirit,  and  for  the  misery 
they  brought  into  the  domestic  circle.  Nor  can 
lie  recollect  one  of  them  who  is  not  now  either 
struggling  with  poverty  and  dishonor,  or  else  in 
his  grave. 

For  the  most  part  such  young  men  have  not 
"  lived  out  half  their  days."  One  there  was,  whose 
presence  was  the  breaking  up  of  all  tranquillity 

VOL.  II. — 10 


218  THE   FIRST   NATIONAL   CURSE 

and  happiness  in  his  father's  house,  and  whose  con- 
duct brought  down  those  gray  hairs  with  sorrow 
to  the  grave.  His  history  is  briefly  told.  He  be- 
came a  wanderer  and  a  vagabond,  and  after  strug- 
gling with  disease  and  suffering,  found  an  early 
death,  and  sleeps  now  in  yonder  distant  graveyard 
among  the  hills  of  the  Hudson.  There  was  anoth- 
er, an  only  son,  rude  and  exacting,  wilful  and  unsub- 
dued, the  heir-apparent  of  wealth  and  honor,  who 
found  his  home  in  the  States'  Prison,  and  who  sleeps 
in  dishonor  "  where  the  prisoners  rest  together." 
There  was  another,  not  only  an  only  son,  but  an 
only  child,  who  inherited  a  large  fortune,  whose 
filial  disobedience  plunged  him  into  low  vices,  and 
who  died  at  the  mid-day  of  manhood  weeping  over 
his  folly,  and  whose  body  rests  within  a  mile  of  the 
spot  where  I  am  writing.  There  was  another,  who 
had  no  vice  but  that  of  profanity,  and  a  temper 
which,  in  his  domestic  intercourse,  was  often  en- 
raged almost  to  madness,  who,  at  the  age  of 
eighteen,  was  the  first  officer  of  a  ship  that  sailed 
out  of  Boston  ;  but  he  died  before  he  reached  his 
twentieth  year.  "With  tears,  his  mother  once  said 
to  me,  "  I  am  thankful  there  is  such  a  place  as  the 
sea."  And  there  was  another,  carefully  trained 
up  and  tenderly  cherished,  who  survived  his  father 
only  to  break  a  widowed  mother's  heart.  Feeble 
and  timorous  woman  as  she  was,  she  was  wont  to 
go  at  midnight  to  seek  him  out  in  some  of  the 


THE  FIRST   NATIONAL  CURSE.  219 

purlieus  of  the  theatre.  He  became  too  ungov- 
ernable fop  the  land,  and  on  the  ocean  his  insub- 
ordinate spirit  subjected  him  to  such  severities, 
that  he  never  returned  to  tell  the  tale  of  cruelty. 
He  did  not  die  under  the  lash,  but  sickened  and 
died  of  his  wounds  in  one  of  the  West  India  islands. 

Go  to  the  almshouse,  if  you  wish  to  see  disobe- 
dient children.  Go  to  the  prison,  and  you  will  see 
them  there.  Go  to  the  gallows,  and  you  will  see 
them  there.  Many  is  the  heart-rending  confession 
which  the  officers  of  justice  and  the  ministers  of 
religion  have  listened  to  at  the  scaffold,  that  the 
beginning  of  the  mad  career  which  brought  the 
culprit  to  his  untimely  end  was  his  disobedience  to 
his  parents.  I  no  longer  expect  to  see  a  disobedi- 
ent child,  and  one  whose  disobedience  grows  upon 
him,  prosper.  Such  a  child  may  change  his  course 
and  become  penitent  and  reformed,  and,  so  far  as 
it  is  in  his  power,  undo  what  he  has  done ;  but  if 
his  repentance  comes  not  with  his  early  manhood, 
he  will  bear  the  burden  to  his  grave.  He  that 
has  seen  a  thoroughly  practised  son  of  disobedi- 
ence ever  turning  out  an  honorable  and  useful 
man,  has  at  least  "  one  marvellous  thing  to  tell  of." 

The  God  of  heaven  is  watchfully  observant  of 
the  conduct  of  children  toward  their  parents.  He 
is  no  indifferent  spectator  of  that  kind  spirit  and 
those  refreshing  smiles  which  light  up  the  hopes 
of  parents,  and  breathe  their  sweetness  into  the 


220  THE  FIRST  NATIONAL  CURSE. 

domestic  circle.  Nor  does  he  look  with  indiffer- 
ence on  those  angry  frowns,  and  that  rebellious 
spirit  which  depress  a  parent's  hopes,  and  keep 
the  domestic  circle  in  fermented  apprehension. 
When  that  discouraged  father  and  that  heart- 
broken mother  bow  in  secret  to  tell  Ilim  their 
despondency  and  their  griefs,  those  bitter  cries 
enter  into  his  ears.  That  anguish  children  trifle 
with,  God  regards.  Those  apprehensions  which 
distress  the  parent,  He  cannot  bear  any  more  than 
they.  Let  no  wayward  son  or  daughter  imagine 
that  the  Governor  of  the  universe  wraps  himself 
up  in  dark  clouds,  and  sits  there  silent  and  unsee- 
ing. Let  every  youth  know,  that,  so  long  as  God 
is  on  the  throne,  it  is  not  safe  thus  to  wring  a  pa- 
rent's heart.  The  widow's  God  and  Judge,  and  the 
parent's  Avenger  is  he  in  his  holy  habitation. 

The  instructions  of  the  Bible  on  this  part  of  our 
subject  are  fearfully  solemn  and  affecting.  Poor 
Ham  and  Canaan  !  Bleeding  Africa,  what  lessons 
hast  thou  been  reciting  to  the  young !  And  they 
are  the  first  lesson  read  to  the  world  just  recovered 
from  the  Flood.  I  have  heard  a  son  damn  his  fa- 
ther ;  and  I  could  not  but  call  to  mind  the  law, 
"  Every  one  that  curseth  his  father  or  his  mother, 
shall  be  surely  put  to  death!1''  I  have  seen  stubborn 
and  rebellious  sons,  who  "  would  not  obey  the  voice 
of  their  father,  nor  the  voice  of  their  mother ;" 
and  when  they  chastened  them,  would  not  heark- 


THE  FIRST  NATIONAL  CURSE.  221 

en;  and  I  thought  of  those  words,  "All  the  men 
of  his  city  shall  stone  him  with  stones,  that  he 
die"  The  God  of  heaven  looked  upon  such  a 
child  as  not  fit  to  live.  And  though  this  was 
Jewish  law,  the  lesson  which  it  teaches  is  for 
Jew  and  Gentile.  The  child  that  despises  pa- 
rental instruction  and  rebuke,  that  tramples  on 
parental  authority,  and  instead  of  those  tokens 
of  gratitude  for  parental  affection  which  nature 
dictates,  and  God  requires  and  honors,  returns  evil 
for  good,  and  cursing  for  blessing,  is  a  giant  in 
iniquity,  and  furnishes  an  example  of  such  hard- 
ened impiety  as  strikes  the  mind  with  horror. 
Sooner  or  later  the  judgments  of  heaven  shall 
overtake  such  a  man.  I  have  seen  such  men,  hang- 
ing in  gibbets  by  the  highway,  in  other  lands, 
and  on  the  banks  of  great  rivers,  with  their 
flesh  decayed,  and  birds  of  prey  hovering  over 
them,  and  their  bones  bleaching  in  the  wind ;  and 
I  remembered  that  it  is  written,  "The  eye  that 
mocketh  at  his  father,  and  refuseth  to  obey  his 
mother,  the  ravens  of  the  valley  shall  pick  it  out, 
and  the  young  eagles  shall  eat  it." 

Perhaps  I  shall  incur  censure  by  the  remark 
with  which  I  am  to  close  this  long  chapter.  Yet 
is  it  forced  from  my  bosom.  It  relates  to  the 
growth  and  increase  of  this  aggravated  sin  of  dis- 
obedience to  parents  in  the  land  in  which  we  live. 
Every  eye  sees  them,  every  ear  hears  them,  every 


222  THE  FIRST  NATIONAL  CURSE. 

parent  knows  them.  Public  sentiment  in  this  land 
has  a  strong  tendency  to  the  conclusion,  that  rulers 
and  subjects,  teachers  and  pupils,  masters  and  ser- 
vants, parents  and  children,  are  here  free  and 
equal !  This  is  too  much  the  doctrine  of  the  land, 
and  of  the  age.  It  is  to  some  extent  the  natural 
growth  of  our  free  institutions.  The  current  of 
the  public  mind  is  strong  toward  the  breaking 
down  of  all  distinctions  among  men.  There  may 
be,  and  there  is,  not  a  little  that  is  valuable  in  such 
views,  in  opposition  to  the  claims  of  an  arrogant 
aristocracy ;  but  the  domestic  relations  are  not  the 
place  for  them.  There  is  one  circle  where  the 
doctrine  of  equal  rights,  unrestricted  liberty,  and 
universal  fraternity  must  be  repudiated ;  that  circle 
is  a  well-governed  family.  Be  the  advocates  of 
this  doctrine  elsewhere,  if  you  will ;  but  let  patri- 
archal government  stand  on  the  firm  basis  on 
which  God  has  placed  it.  Men  may  break  asun- 
der the  bonds  between  the  parent  and  the  child ; 
but  woe  be  to  the  man  and  the  pen  that  does  this 
accursed  work ! 

We  sometimes  tremble  when  we  look  at  the 
signs  of  the  times.  It  may  require  greater  watch- 
fulness than  even  the  more  sober  and  reflecting 
possess,  to.  stem  this  tide  of  popular  opinion.  It 
may  demand  more  determined  resolution  than 
even  the  resolute  boast  of  to  prevent  the  loosest 
and  rankest  notions  of  government  from  corrupt- 


THE  FIRST  NATIONAL  CURSE.  223 

ing  the  domestic  relations  and  annihilating  the 
spirit  of  subordination.  With  all  our  civil  privi- 
leges, the  difficulty  is  no  small  one,  of  instilling 
this  spirit  into  the  minds  of  the  young.  There 
is  reason  to  believe  that  in  no  Christian  land 
is  the  difficulty  so  great,  and  the  temptations  to 
filial  disobedience  so  many,  and  so  strong.  The 
young  boast  themselves  that  they  live  under  a 
free  government,  and  will  not  be  in  bondage 
to  parental  restraint.  From  the  restrictions  of 
domestic  authority,  they  make  their  appeal  to 
public  opinion  ;  and  instead  of  encountering 
universal  frowns,  and  meeting  from  on  every 
side  the  cry  of  shame !  shame !  their  undutiful 
and  revolting  spirit  finds  abettors,  and  they  are 
implicitly  encouraged  in  their  rebellion.  Instead 
of  covering  their  faces  with  confusion,  and  being 
covered  with  reproach,  they  speak  loftily  and  bear 
themselves  like  princes. 

As  men,  as  parents,  as  the  friends  of  liberty  and 
the  rights  of  man,  we  enter  our  solemn  protest 
against  all  these  loose  and  pernicious  notions. 
Much  more  do  we  protest  against  them,  as  God's 
ambassadors,  and  in  his  name,  set  in  array  against 
them  the  unchanging  edict  of  his  holy  law.  The 
thought  may  never  be  lost  sight  of,  that  this 
great  law  changes  not  with  the  changing  maxims 
of  the  world,  the  changing  forms  of  human 
governments,  nor  the  changing  habits  of  human 


224  THE  FIRST  NATIONAL  CURSE. 

society.  It  is  ever  the  same,  and  in  every 
land.  There  is  no  relief  from  it,  either  in  lands 
that  are  pagan,  or  Christian.  It  is  not  less  binding 
under  governments  where,  from  the  excess  of  lib- 
erty, there  are  strong  temptations  and  great  facili- 
ties to  disregard  it,  than  under  governments 
where  aristocratic  influence,  or  despotic  power 
give  stringency  to  the  parent's  authority,  and 
where  public  opinion  frowns  with  severity  on  filial 
disobedience.  This  law  of  heaven  is  everywhere 
silently  going  into  effect ;  it  is  everywhere  being 
executed,  whatever  may  be  the  views  and  usages 
of  men.  God's  blessing  is  all  the  while  descend- 
ing upon  the  obedient,  and  his  curse  upon  the  dis- 
obedient. 

Much  does  the  writer  wish  that  he  could  address 
his  countrymen  on  this  topic  as  its  importance  de- 
mands. There  is  a  spirit  abroad  in  this  land, 
which  is  corrupting  our  social  institutions  at  this 
their  fountain-head.  It  will  not  be  many  years 
before  this  truth  will  be  realized,  and  it  will  be 
seen  only  to  be  lamented,  that  there  are  powerful 
influences  at  work  which  are  gradually  and  rap- 
idly relaxing  the  bonds  of  filial  obligation.  We 
feel  that  they  are  agencies  greatly  to  be  deplored, 
because  they  are  at  war  with  God,  and  at  war 
with  the  highest  and  best  character,  and  interests, 
of  the  rising  generation.  Yet  do  they  .find  abet- 
tors everywhere  around  us ;  they  are  fostered  by 


THE  FIRST  NATIONAL   CURSE.  225 

every  form  of  political  and  religious  radicalism ; 
fourierism,  with  unblushing  infidelity  and  ungod- 
liness avows  them  ;  while  even  our  modest  democ- 
racy is  unconsciously  supplying  the  secret  aliment 
on  which  they  live. 

I  say  not  these  things  as  a  politician,  but  as  a 
moralist,  and  a  defender  of  laws  that  are  of  higher 
than  human  authority.  If,  with  all  their  excel- 
lence, our  political  institutions  are  exposed  to  this 
abuse,  well  may  we  take  the  alarm.  The  true 
friends  of  civil  liberty  will  find  their  hopes  de- 
feated, just  in  the  measure  in  which  filial  insubor- 
dination becomes  rampant.  The  Bible  is  the 
great  charter  of  human  liberty ;  but  it  is  liberty 
with  order;  it  has  a  place  for  everything,  and 
puts  everything  in  its  place ;  a  place  for  the  pa- 
rent, and  a  place  for  the  child.  It  may  be  quite 
unfashionable  for  children  to  honor  their  parents  ; 
a  dutiful  child  may  be  the  laughing-stock  of  his 
companions,  and  full-grown  men  may  justify  him 
in  breaking  away  from  parental  restraint ;  but 
God's  eye  is  upon  him  for  good,  or  evil,  as  he 
obeys,  or  disobeys  his  immutable  law.  It  matters 
not  where  he  is  born,  nor  how  he  is  educated, 
nor  to  what  extent  the  spirit  of  disobedience  pre- 
vails around  him,  nor  how  popular  the  principles 
by  which  a  wayward  spirit  is  justified;  there 
stands  the  law,  "  Honor  thy  father  and  thy  moth- 
er ;  that  thy  days  may  be  long  in  the  land  which 
10* 


226  THE   FIRST  NATIONAL   CURSE. 

the  Lord  thy  God  giveth  thee."  Men  may  lose 
sight  of  it ;  parents  and  children  may  lose  sight 
of  it;  the  halls  of  legislation,  the  courts  of  justice, 
the  press  and  the  pulpit  even  may  lose  sight  of 
it ;  but  there  is  One  who  will  not  lose  sight  of  it. 
God  never  changes ;  his  principles  never  alter ; 
his  law  never  alters.  The  spirit  of  disobedience 
to  your  parents,  my  young  friends,  may  fall  in 
with  the  spirit  of  the  age ;  but  it  falls  out  with 
the  immutable  principles  of  the  divine  government 
Men  may  seduce  you,  and  flatter  and  honor  your 
disobedience ;  but  God  will  rebuke  and  dishonor 
you.  He  will  "  curse  your  blessings ;"  he  will 
"  corrupt  your  seed,  and  spread  dung  upon  your 
faces,"  in  this  world;  and  in  the  next,  he  will 
set  his  mark  upon  you,  and  shut  you  out  of  his 
kingdom.  Dishonor  your  parents,  and  you  give 
the  devil  the  advantage  he  is  seeking,  in  order  to 
bind  you  in  his  chains.  Honor  them,  and  you 
will  thus  far  honor  God,  and  will  be  honored  of 
God  and  man.  You  will  make  your  parents  happy, 
and  it  will  be  no  grief  of  heart  to  you.  How  few 
causes  of  domestic  misery  would  there  be,  if  chil- 
dren were  dutiful !  How  refreshing  the  smiles 
that  light  up  such  a  circle  !  Such  are  the  families 
where  God  is  wont  to  be  honored,  and  where  he 
is  wont  to  dwell.  Next  to  his  church,  they  exert 
the  great  conservatory  influence  in  this  lost  world. 
Amid  all  its  wickedness  and  woe,  in  such  families 


THE  FIRST  NATIONAL  CURSE.  227 

as  these,  is  found  one  of  the  great  redeeming  qual- 
ities of  the  race ;  they  stand  as  way-marks,  indi- 
cating the  entrance  to  the  path  of  life. 

Blame  me  not  that  I  use  great  plainness  of 
speech,  and  that  I  am  urgent  in  this  expostula- 
tion. No  class  of  men  are  more  influenced  by  the 
popular  breeze,  than  the  young.  They  are  apt  to 
float  with  the  current,  and  their  hopes  and  princi- 
ples are  tossed  upon  the  changeful  billows.  Take 
heed,  therefore,  that  you  be  not  driven  by  the 
tempest,  nor  engulphed  by  the  storm.  It  is  not 
a  pure  and  tranquil,  but  an  ignited  and  tempest- 
uous atmosphere  which  you  are  breathing.  You 
may  be  the  sport  of  the  breeze,  and  rest  your 
hopes  in  the  undulating  waves  of  public  opinion ; 
but  there  is  only  one  firm  resting-place  in  this 
changing  world.  God  is  a  rock ;  his  work  is  per- 
fect. It  is  only  here,  that  hope  casts  her  anchor 
safely.  This  rock  of  ages  lifts  its  head  high  above 
the  billows.  The  law  of  the  Lord  is  perfect ;  his 
word  abideth  forever. 


CHAPTER    XXII. 

€\i  /irat  ^nntjjftil  ^atrinrrjj  dining  from 
lornr. 

The  life  of  every  person,  if  duly  inspected,  will 
be  found  to  bear  abundant  testimony  to  the  truth, 
that,  while  "  a  man's  heart  deviseth  his  way,  the 
Lord  directeth  his  steps."  Not  unfrequently  is  he 
thrown  into  the  midst  of  scenes  he  little  thought 
of,  and  of  associations  that  are  not  of  his  own  seek- 
ing. Events  occur  in  his  history  which  surprise 
none  more  than  himself,  and  which  conduct  to  re- 
sults that  sometimes  disappoint  his  hopes,  but  are 
more  often  better  than  his  fears. 

These  thoughts  are  suggested  by  a  scene,  with 
which  we  are  all  familiar,  which  the  sacred  histo- 
rian sets  before  us  in  a  most  touching  narrative. 
"  And  Jacob  went  out  from  Beersheba,  and  went 
toward  Haran.  And  he  lighted  upon  a  certain 
place,  and  tarried  there  all  night,  because  the  sun 
was  set ;  and  he  took  of  the  stones  of  that  place, 
and  put  them  for  his  pillows,  and  lay  down  in  that 
place  to  sleep.     And  he  dreamed,  and  behold  a 


THE  FIRST   PATRIARCH   GOING   FROM  HOME.        229 

ladder  set  up  on  the  earth,  and  the  top  of  it 
reached  to  heaven  ;  and  behold  the  angels  of  God 
ascending  and  descending  on  it.  And  behold  the 
Lord  stood  above  it  and  said,  I  am  the  Lord  God 
of  Abraham  thy  father,  and  the  God  of  Isaac ;  the 
land  whereon  thou  liest,  to  thee  will  I  give  it,  and 
to  thy  seed.  And  thy  seed  shall  be  as  the  dust  of 
the  earth,  and  thou  shalt  spread  abroad  to  the 
west  and  to  the  east,  and  to  the  north  and  to  the 
south ;  and  in  thee  and  in  thy  seed  shall  all  the 
families  of  the  earth  be  blessed.  And  behold  I 
am  with  thee,  and  will  keep  thee  in  all  places 
whither  thou  goest,  and  will  bring  thee  again  to 
this  land ;  for  I  will  not  leave  thee  until  I  have 
done  that  which  I  have  spoken  to  thee  of.  And 
Jacob  awaked  out  of  his  sleep  and  he  said,  Surely 
the  Lord  is  in  this  place,  and  I  knew  it  not.  And 
he  was  afraid,  and  said,  How  dreadful  is  this  place  ! 
this  is  none  other  but  the  house  of  God,  and  this 
is  the  gate  of  heaven.  And  Jacob  rose  up  early 
in  the  morning,  and  took  the  stone  that  he  had 
put  for  his  pillow,  and  set  it  up  for  a  pillar,  and 
poured  oil  upon  the  top  of  it.  And  he  called  the 
name  of  that  place  Beth-El.  And  Jacob  vowed 
a  vow,  saying,  If  God  will  be  with  me  and  keep 
me  in  this  way  that  I  go,  and  will  give  me  bread 
to  eat  and  raiment  to  put  on,  so  that  I  come  again 
to  my  father's  house  in  peace ;  then  shall  the  Lord 
be  my  God;  and  this  stone  which  I  have  set  up 


230        THE   FIRST   PATRIARCH  GOING   FROM   HOME. 

for  a  pillar  shall  be  God's  house  ;  and  of  all  that 
thou  shalt  give  me  I  will  surely  give  the  tenth 
unto  thee." 

Among  the  many  thoughts  suggested  by  this 
narrative,  the  first  is,  that  young  men  are  not  un- 

FREQUENTLY  PREPARED  FOR  USEFULNESS  BY  GREAT 

trials.  Jacob  was  comparatively  young.  The 
more  permanent  relations  of  domestic  life  were, 
with  him,  yet  unformed;  every  resolution  he 
adopted,  and  every  step  he  took,  would  give  a 
coloring  to  all  his  future  course  in  the  present 
world,  as  well  as  affect  his  destiny  beyond  the 
grave.  He  was  the  third,  in  lineal  descent,  from 
the  primogenitor  of  the  Hebrew  race ;  dedicated 
to  God  in  his  infancy,  and  educated  in  his  fear. 
His  father  Isaac,  though  not  one  of  the  most  dis- 
tinguished, was  one  of  the  loveliest  characters  in 
patriarchal  history.  His  son  Jacob,  the  child  of 
Rebekah,  his  first  love,  was  obviously  the  favorite 
of  his  parents ;  nor  was  it  any  ordinary  event  that 
could  have  induced  them  to  consent  to  his  separa- 
tion from  them.  But  an  eventful  life  was  before 
him  ;  and  one  marked  by  such  responsibilities, 
that  God  saw  fit  to  prepare  him  for  them  by  no 
ordinary  dispensations  of  his  providence.  He  was 
destined  to  become  a  noble  man,  the  pride  of  his 
family,  and  to  give  his  own  distinguished  and 
heaven-imparted  name  to  the  whole  Israel  of  God. 
But  he  did  not  reach  this  distinction  without 


THE  FIRST  PATRIARCH  GOING   FROM  HOME.        231 

trials.  There  were  occurrences  in  his  early  his- 
tory, deeply  affecting,  and  deeply  and  forever 
humbling  to  his  own  mind.  The  deception  and 
falsehood  he  had  been  guilty  of  toward  his  father, 
and  the  fraud  he  had  practised  on  his  brother 
Esau,  were  melancholy  events ;  nor  can  the  stig- 
ma they  have  left  upon  his  character  ever  be  blot- 
ted out.  The  immediate  result  of  them  was,  that 
he  was  filled  with  remorse  and  fear,  became  an  ex- 
ile from  the  bosom  of  parental  partiality  and  love, 
and  was  subjected  to  trials  which  plunged  him 
into  deep,  and  well-nigh  irrecoverable  perplexity. 

The  hope  and  prediction  of  his  mother,  that  his 
absence  would  continue  but  a  "few  days,  until  his 
brother's  anger  turn  away  from  him,  and  he  for- 
get that  which  he  had  done  unto  him,"  was  never 
fulfilled.  We  nowhere  read  that  she  ever  again 
set  her  eyes  upon  her  darling  son.  A  murderous 
spirit  rankled  in  the  bosom  of  Esau  ;  years  of  ab- 
sence, of  toil,  of  watchfulness,  of  disappointed 
hopes — years  of  which  he  says,  "in  the  day,  the 
drought  consumed  me,  and  the  frost  by  night,  and 
my  sleep  departed  from  mine  eyes" — passed  away, 
before  he  could  look  for  a  peaceful,  or  even  a  safe 
return. 

It  is  not  always  that  particular  trials  are  so  ob- 
viously the  result  of  particular  transgressions.  In 
the  present  instance,  they  were  the  immediate 
consequences  of  his  sin.     Perplexity  and  distress 


232        THE  FIRST   PATRIARCH   GOING   FROM   HOME. 

followed  him  in  all  his  exile,  they  poisoned  his 
sources  of  joy,  and  dashed  his  honeyed  cup  with 
bitterness.  God  brought  him  to  repentance  and 
forgave  his  sin ;  but  he  so  "  visited  his  iniquity 
with  the  rod,  and  his  trangressions  with  stripes," 
that  the  discipline  and  trial  of  his  long  and  em- 
barrassing exile  became  the  preparative  for  other 
scenes  of  still  deeper  trial,  out  of  which  he  came 
as  purified  gold  from  the  furnace.  They  were  the 
very  discipline  he  needed  to  fit  him  to  become  the 
selected  depositary  of  God's  gracious  covenant,  and 
so  many  gracious  communications  to  the  world. 
Severe  and  self-procured  as  they  were,  they  were 
the  means  of  making  him  what  he  was,  when  he 
wrestled  with  the  angel  of  the  covenant  at  Peniel, 
when  his  pilgrim  character  sanctified  the  Holy 
Land,  and  when,  in  Egypt  and  before  Pharaoh,  his 
hoary  head  was  a  crown  of  glory,  and  "  the  ser- 
vants of  Pharaoh,  the  elders  of  his  house,  and  all 
the  elders  of  the  land  of  Egypt,  with  both  chariots 
and  horsemen,  a  very  great  company,"  paid  their 
homage  at  his  crave. 

It  is  no  uncommon 'thing  for  the  young  to  be 
thus  disciplined  for  usefulness  and  honor.  Few 
have  attained  to  this  distinction,  who  cannot  look 
back  upon  seasons  of  trial  in  their  younger  days. 
The  tenderness  and  sympathy  of  home,  even  with 
all  their  fitting  counsels,  not  unfrequently  create 
too  strong  a  sense  of  dependence  on  human  helpers. 


THE  FIRST  PATRIARCH  GOING   FROM  HOME.        233 

What  is  kindly  designed  to  be  the  best  pre- 
liminary to  the  best  and  most  energetic  character, 
may  be,  and  often  is,  a  doubtful  preparative  for  the 
untried  scenes  of  a  young  man's  future  pilgrimage. 
The  voice  of  heavenly  wisdom  instructs  us,  that 
"  it  is  good  for  a  man  that  he  bear  the  yoke  in  his 
youth"  It  is  a  melancholy  fact,  that  the  mass 
of  young  men  learn  only  by  experience.  Dear 
bought,  bitter  experience,  teaches  them  lessons 
which  are  never  learned  from  the  teachings  of 
hoary  wisdom.  They  must  see  with  their  own 
eyes,  hear  with  their  own  ears,  and  suffer  in  their 
own  persons.  Launch  out  on  the  wide  ocean  of 
human  life  they  will,  ere  they  learn  that  there  are 
boisterous  winds,  and  many  a  perilous  lee-shore. 
It  were  an  instructive  chapter  in  the  history  of 
great  and  good  men,  which  should  bring  out  to 
our  view  the  effect  which  the  perplexities  and 
trials  of  youth  had  upon  their  character.  Not  a 
few  are  left  in  maturer  years  to  mourn  in  obscurity 
over  concealed  and  useless  talent,  and  even  no 
small  degree  of  ineffective  goodness,  because  they 
remained  too  long  ignorant  of  the  force  with  which 
they  could  both  perform  and  suffer.  Sweet  flow- 
ers grow  in  the  forest ;  and  the  brightest  gems  are 
dug  from  the  deep  sea.  Early  transplanting  to 
the  busy  scenes  of  the  world,  to  its  severer  respon- 
sibilities, and  not  unfrequently  to  its  agitating  con- 
flicts  and  depressing  trials,  is  the  discipline  the 


234        THE  FIRST  PATRIARCH  GOING  FROM  HOME. 

mind  requires  to  make  it  "  bring  forth  fruit  in  old 
age."  Nothing  is  better  fitted  to  correct  incon- 
siderate thoughts,  lead  to  sober  reflection,  and 
season  the  mind  with  wise  and  serious  principles. 
Never  is  it  in  a  state  more  happily  qualified  to  re- 
ceive instruction,  or  more  disposed  to  lay  it  aside 
for  future  use,  than  when  under  the  burden  of 
trials,  of  which  the  young  are  most  disposed  to 
complain.  They  learn  then  in  defiance  of  their 
own  thoughtlessness.  And  they  are  permanent 
lessons  ;  the  memory  treasures  them  up  ;  they  are 
sacred  treasures,  not  easily  lost  or  violated.  They 
are  from  the  wise  ordering  of  a  "kind  and  heavenly 
providence,  at  the  season  when  they  are  most 
needed.  To  a  young  man  in  the  full  career  of 
vanity  and  self-indulgence,  they  bring  the  hour 
of  faithful  upbraiding,  but  more  tender  and  touch- 
ing expostulation ;  of  solemn  caution,  but  still 
more  solemn  resolves ;  of  passion  controlled  and 
appetites  curbed.  And  though  there  are  some 
minds  that  are  depressed  and  crushed  by  them, 
and  others  that  are  driven  to  the  recklessness  of 
despair ;  yet  is  this  God's  ordinary  method  of  form- 
ing the  most  wisely  balanced  and  vigorous  char- 
acter. Nothing  is  effective  to  which  the  grace  of 
God  is  not  superadded  ;  but  when  it  is  superadded 
to  such  a  discipline,  it  forms  a  character  prepared 
to  take  share  in  the  burdens  of  human  life — in  its 
sorrows  and  joys,  its  solicitude  and  hopes  ;  a  char- 


THE  FIRST   PATRIARCH   GOING   FROM   HOME.        235 

acter  to  which  restraint  and  self-denial,  forethought 
and  self-control,  become  habits  that  are  welcomed 
and  cherished. 

We  remark  in  the  next  place,  that  in  setting 

OUT  IN  THE  WORLD,  YOUNG  MEN  GREATLY  NEED  THE 

divine  direction  and  blessing.  Wicked  as  he 
had  been,  never  did  Jacob  more  need  the  sympa- 
thy of  men,  and  the  care  of  God,  than  in  this 
crisis  of  his  history.  It  was  the  turning  point  in 
his  destiny.  He  remained  a  member  of  his  fa- 
ther's family  longer  than  most  young  men — longer 
than  was  wise.  To  say  the  least,  he  was  more 
than  thirty  years  of  age,  when  he  went  out  from 
Beersheba,  and  went  toward  Haran.  This  child 
of  promise,  this  favorite  son  of  Rebecca,  left  home 
under  circumstances  of  no  enviable  kind.  This 
heir  of  a  powerful  family,  already  its  chief  and 
head,  did  not  take  a  fair  start  in  the  world  ;  he 
was  a  fugitive  "  because  of  the  anger  of  his  brother 
Esau,  lest  he  should  kill  him."  He  goes  forth  se- 
cretly, precipitately,  and  alone.  He  had  no 
studied  arrangements  for  his  journey ;  he  went  un- 
expectedly, a  solitary  traveller  and  on  foot.  "  With 
my  staff,"  says  he,  "  I  passed  over  this  Jordan." 
Few  young  men  have  left  the  home  of  their  child- 
hood and  youth  under  darker  clouds,  or  with  a 
heavier  heart.  With  what  emotions  did  he  bow 
his  head  for  the  last  time  with  Isaac  and  Rebekah 
before  God's  throne,  and  rise  from  that  solemn 


236        THE  FIRST  PATRIARCH  GOING  FROM  HOME 

act  of  worship  in  which  he  received  a  father's 
blessing,  and  then  to  turn  his  back  upon  home ! 
With  what  fear  of  Esau's  murderous  hand !  with 
what  remorse  for  his  own  wickedness !  With 
what  regret  of  the  past ;  with  what  a  melancholy 
retrospect  of  scenes  never  to  be  revisited !  There 
was  no  mother's  eye  to  follow  him ;  no  longer 
was  there  extended  to  him  a  fathers  care.  He 
was  going  among  those  whom  he  never  saw,  and 
his  way  was  desolate.  He  was  alone  in  the  world, 
and  no  eye  was  upon  him  but  that  of  God  and 
his  invisible  angels.  It  could  scarcely  be  other- 
wise than  that  he  was  a  most  unhappy  and  discon- 
solate young  man. 

He  arrived  at  Luz,  a  pagan  city  which  lay  on 
the  frontiers  of  the  tribe  of  Benjamin.  He  did 
not  enter  the  city ;  night  overtook  him,  and 
whether  he  found  refuge  in  some  stranger's  tent, 
or  slept  in  the  open  field,  or  lived,  or  died,  seemed 
of  little  consequence  to  him.  He  was  sad  and 
weary;  and  the  sacred  historian  tells  us,  that 
"  he  lighted  upon  a  certain  place  and  tarried  all 
night,  because  the  sun  was  set ;  and  he  took  of 
the  stories  of  that  place,  and  put  them  for  his  pil- 
low, and  lay  down  in  that  place  to  sleep."  There, 
amid  the  silence  of  the  night,  away  from  the  tu- 
mult of  the  world,  slept  the  youthful  Jacob. 
The  dewy  heavens  covered  him.  The  father  of 
Israel's   twelve   tribes   slept    in    the    lone   field. 


THE  FIRST  PATRIARCH  GOING  FROM  HOME.        23*7 

Fatigued  with  toil  and  grief,  a  stone  was  his  pil- 
low ;  his  keeper,  the  "  Shepherd  of  Israel." 

"Thou  knowest,  O  Lord,"  saith  the  prophet, 
"that  the  way  of  man  is  not  in  himself;  it  is  not 
in  man  that  walketh  to  direct  his  steps."  If  there 
is  a  period  when  even  a  wild,  self-willed,  self-con- 
fident, self-conceited,  pleasure-loving,  and  pleasure- 
seeking  young  man  feels  his  need  of  being  cared 
for  by  that  kind  providence  which  "  hears  the 
young  ravens  when  they  cry ;"  it  is  when  the 
cord  which  binds  him  to  the  home  of  his  father's 
is  first  sundered,  and  he  goes  alone  and  friendless 
into  the  world.  It  may  be,  he  goes  under  the 
burden  of  youthful  follies  and  wickedness ;  of  pa- 
rental love  ungratefully  requited,  and  parental 
counsels  and  authority  abused  and  trodden  under 
his  feet.  And  then  his  heart  smites  him,  and  the 
burden  is  greater  than  he  can  bear.  Or  it  may 
be,  he  goes  with  an  honest  conscience  and  approv- 
ing smiles,  and  that  his  only  trial  is  the  sundering 
of  those  bonds  of  filial  affection  and  duty,  which 
have  been  so  long  and  so  pleasantly  cherished.  Even 
then  he  goes  with  a  heavy  heart,  and  "  with  wan- 
dering steps  and  slow."  A  false  step  may  lead 
him  into  paths  from  which  he  may  never  be  re- 
claimed ;  snares  may  entangle  him  which  may 
never  be  broken ;  and  associates  may  crowd  about 
him  who  are  "  lured  only  by  the  scent  of  prey." 
And  even  if  he  chooses  the  wiser  path,  much  does 


238        THE  FIRST   PATRIARCH   GOING   FROM  HOME. 

he  need  of  caution  and  reserve,  of  integrity  and 
firmness,  of  "  the  wisdom  that  is  from  above,"  to 
keep  and  strengthen  him  in  the  way.  It  is  a 
happy  home  which  such  a  young  man  departs 
from,  and  one  which  he  has  contributed  to  make 
happy.     But  it  is  his  Eden  home  no  longer. 

"  The  world  is  all  before  him,  where  to  choose 
His  place  of  rest,  and  Providence  his  guide." 

To  a  young  man  thus  forsaken  of  earth,  the  care 
and  guardianship  of  the  God  of  Jacob  is  worth 
more  than  earth  can  give.  When  Hagar  was 
banished  by  Abraham  to  the  wilderness,  the  God 
of  Abraham  did  not  forget  even  the  bondwoman 
and  her  son.  To  the  depressed  descendants  of 
this  same  exiled  Jacob,  God  said,  "Although  I 
have  scattered  them  among  the  countries,  yet  will 
I  be  to  them  as  a  little  sanctuary  in  the  countries 
where  they  shall  come."  How  precious  such  a 
thought  to  a  young  man,  away  from  home,  with 
none  to  look  to,  and  none  to  lean  upon  but  Ja- 
cob's God  !  Most  delightful  is  that  expostulation, 
"Wilt  thou  not  from  this  time  cry  unto  me,  My 
Father !  thou  art  the  guide  of  my  youth  ?"  There 
is  one  whose  eye  sees  the  wanderer,  even  in  the 
far  off  wilderness,  or  farther  sea,  whose  ear  hears 
him,  whose  heart  pities  him.  Dejected  and  in 
solitude,  shut  out  and  disinherited  by  all  the 
world,  the  God  of  heaven  is  his  guide  and  refuge. 


THE  FIRST  PATRIARCH   GOING   FROM   HOME.        239 

It  is  written  in  the  Scriptures,  "  When  my  father 
and  my  mother  forsake  me,  then  the  Lord  will 
take  me  up."  The  God  of  Jacob  is  the  young 
man's  friend.  Be  he  anywhere,  on  land,  or  ocean ; 
in  the  solitary  desert,  or  in  the  crowded  city  ;  with 
such  a  friend  and  guardian,  he  is  safe.  Away 
from  God,  all  is  dark  and  full  of  danger.  There 
is  security  and  peace  only  under  the  shadow  of 
his  wing ;  nor  may  he  ever  despair  of  help  from 
God. 

But  this  narrative  suggests  a  more  interesting 
thought  still :  it  reminds  us  of  the  condescending 

GRACE  OF  GOD  TO  THE  WANDERER  WHEN  HE  LEAST 
EXPECTS  AND   LEAST    DESERVES   IT.       If  Jacob  Was  a 

pious  young  man,  his  piety  was  of  a  very  doubtful 
character.  It  was  not  superior  to  a  bare-faced 
stratagem,  and  one  addressed  to  the  more  corrupt 
affections  of  the  human  heart.  I  would  not  like 
to  have  gone  from  home  with  the  guilt  of  Jacob 
on  my  conscience.  He  had  been  a  deceiver.  He 
had  taken  advantage  of  his  aged  father's  debility 
and  blindness,  and  lied  himself  into  his  brother's 
inheritance,  and  by  false  assurances,  often  repeated, 
secured  the  blessing  which  belonged  to  the  first- 
born. His  conduct  had  been  wicked  to  a  degree 
that  enlists  all  our  sympathies  in  favor  of  defraud- 
ed and  injured  Esau,  even  though  he  was  not  the 
child  of  promise.  His  mother,  led  away  by  fond 
partiality  to  her  favorite  son,  spread  the  snare  by 


240        THE   FIRST   PATRIARCH   GOING   FROM  HOME. 

which  he  was,  at  first  reluctantly,  but  at  length 
easily  entangled,  and  into  which  indeed  he  ulti- 
mately rushed  with  eagerness.  The  conduct  of 
Rebekak  in  this  whole  transaction  was  reprehen- 
sible in  a  high  degree,  and  most  dishonorable  in 
her  as  a  mother.  And  it  deserves  to  be  remarked 
that  from  this  hour  her  name  disappears  from  the 
sacred  history.  Honorable  mention  is  made  even 
of  Deborah,  her  nurse,  and  the  place  where  she 
died,  and  of  the  oak  in  Beth-el  where  she  was  bu- 
ried ;  but  of  Rebekah  nothing  farther  is  recorded 
but  the  fact  of  her  burial  in  the  cave  of  Macpelah. 
She  was  in  the  prime  of  life ;  but  her  name  was 
doomed  to  silence ;  this  base  act  of  fraud  is  the 
last  recorded  act  of  her  life,  and  her  memory 
comes  down  to  posterity  under  this  opprobrium. 

Well  did  Esau  complain.  The  circumstances 
of  this  deception  are  very  touching,  and  are  nar- 
rated with  great  simplicity  and  beauty.  We 
know  not  which  to  compassionate  most,  the  vene- 
rable father,  as  he  first  discovered  Jacob's  decep- 
tion, and  "trembled  very  exceedingly,"  or  the 
disappointed  and  heart-broken  son,  when  "  he 
cried  with  an  exceeding  great  and  bitter  cry, 
Bless  me,  even  me  also,  0  my  father  /"  There  is 
no  apology  for  such  conduct  as  this,  on  the  part 
of  Jacob.  It  is  true,  that  God  had,  before  their 
birth,  revealed  the  purpose  to  his  mother,  that 
"  the  elder  should  serve  the  younger."     But  this 


THE  FIRST   PATRIARCH   GOING   FROM   HOME.        241 

could  not  justify  Jacob's  fraud.  The  divine  pur- 
pose is  no  rule  of  action ;  it  has  no  power  of  turn- 
ing falsehood  into  truth,  nor  of  diminishing  the 
turpitude  of  conduct  which  the  divine  law  forbids. 
It  is  no  part  of  God's  purpose  to  diminish  or  relax 
the  obligations,  at  all  times,  and  under  all  circum- 
stances to  obey  the  command,  "  Speak  ye  every 
man  truth  to  his  neighbor."  It  was  an  infamous 
crime  in  Jacob  that  he  had  thus  uttered  the  most 
palpable  falsehood,  and  even  made  religion  the 
cloak  of  his  dissimulation. 

And  now  this  young  man,  with  all  this  burden 
of  wickedness  upon  him,  leaves  the  scenes  of  his 
childhood  and  youth,  and  goes  into  the  world. 
Who  would  suppose  that  he  would  prosper ;  much 
less,  that  he  was  just  on  the  eve  of  being  made  the 
subject  of  God's  converting  grace,  and  of  receiving 
unwonted  manifestations  of  his  goodness  and  mer- 
cy ?  We  should  scarcely  have  predicted  good  of 
a  young  man,  leaving  home  under  such  auspices  ; 
but  rather  should  we  have  uttered  ominous  forebod- 
ings, and  in  his  departure,  seen  signs  of  no  bright 
augury. 

Yet  approach,  and  see  this  guilty  wanderer,  on 
that  first  night  after  he  had  fled,  as  he  lies  in  the 
open  field.  Will  his  conscience  suffer  him  to  sleep  ? 
Yes,  he  sleeps.  But  do  not  his  thoughts  trouble 
him  ?  Does  he  not  start  in  apprehension  and  ter- 
ror ?     Does  no  fearful  dream  agitate  him,  and  is 

VOL.  II. — 11 


242        THE  FIRST  PATRIARCH  GOING  FROM  HOME. 

he  disturbed  by  no  unwelcome  visions  of  the 
night  ?  Yes,  his  mind  is  awake ;  he  dreams,  and 
tGod  speaks  to  him  in  his  dream.  And  strange  to 
say,  his  thoughts  are  tranquil,  his  dreams  delight- 
ful, and  are  even  heavenly  dreams.  It  is  no  image 
of  his  defrauded  brother  that  rises  up  before  his 
excited  imagination ;  nor  is  it  the  voice  of  his  re- 
vengeful pursuer  that  he  hears.  Other  images  are 
before  his  wakeful  mind,  and  another  voice  speaks 
in  tones  of  forgiving  love.  "And  he  dreamed, 
and  behold  a  ladder  set  up  on  the  earth,  and  the 
top  of  it  reached  to  heaven ;  and  behold  the  an- 
gels of  God  ascending  and  descending  on  it."  This 
was  not  all.  "  And  behold,  the  Lord  stood  above 
it."  No  angry  sword  of  justice  was  in  his  hand ; 
nor  was  there  a  word  of  rebuke  uttered  by  his 
lips ;  nor  did  a  frown  darken  his  brow.  Behold, 
the  Lord  stood  above  the  ladder,  and  said,  "  I  am 
the  Lord  God  of  Abraham  thy  father,  and  the 
God  of  Isaac.  The  land  whereon  thou  liest,  to 
thee  will  I  give  it,  and  to  thy  seed.  And  thy 
seed  shall  be  as  the  dust  of  the  earth ;  and  in  thee, 
and  in  thy  seed,  shall  all  the  families  of  the  earth 
be  blessed.  And  behold  I  am  with  thee,  and  will 
keep  thee  in  all  places  whither  thou  goest,  and 
will  bring  thee  again  unto  this  land  ;  for  I  will  not 
leave  thee  until  I  have  done  that  which  I  have 
spoken  to  thee  of."    Wonderful  dream !  wondrous 


THE  FIRST  PATRIARCH  GOING  FROM  HOME.        243 

vision !  wondrous  announcement  to  such  a  de- 
ceiver ! 

He  was  alone  in  the  desert ;  and  God  gave  him 
the  pledge  of  his  protection  and  favor.  He  feared 
the  wrath  of  his  infuriated  brother;  and  God 
showed  him  angelic  messengers  for  his  defence. 
He  was  on  his  way  with  the  view  of  forming  those 
social  alliances  which  are  confessedly  the  most  im- 
portant in  the  world ;  and  God  told  him  that  his 
seed  should  be  as  the  stars  of  heaven.  We  may  not 
stop  to  inquire  into  the  disputed  meaning  of  the 
ladder,  and  the  descending  and  ascending  angels. 
To  our  own  mind  they  indicate  the  superintending 
providence  of  God;  they  taught  Jacob  that  the 
divine  care  was  extended  over  all,  and  had  a  par- 
ticular regard  for  him  in  his  exile.  Fanciful  and 
allegorical  writers  have  found  almost  every  truth — 
philosophical,  religious  and  ethical — in  this  figura- 
tive representation.  We  see  in  it  angel  ministra- 
tions— "  ministering  spirits,  sent  forth  to  minister 
to  them  that  shall  be  heirs  of  salvation." 

When  the  Apostle  Paul  had  been  contemplating 
some  of  the  more  precious  and  glorious  truths  of 
the  gospel,  he  pauses  in  his  rapid  survey  of  them, 
and  dwells  upon  their  affecting  import.  "  Whom 
he  did  foreknow,  he  also  did  predestinate  to  be 
conformed  to  the  image  of  his  Son.  Moreover, 
whom  he  did  predestinate,  them  he  also  called  ; 
and  whom  he  called,  them  he  also  justified ;  and 


244        THE   FIRST   PATRIARCH   GOING   FROM   HOME. 

whom  he  justified,  them  he  also  glorified?     Never 
was   there  a  brighter  chain  of  truths,  or  more 
closely   linked    together   than   these.     They   are 
wondrous  truths ;  and  it  is  no  marvel  the  writer 
demands,  "  What  shall  we  say  then  to  these  things  ? " 
So  we  exclaim  in  view  of  these  disclosures  to  Jacob 
in  the  desert,  What  shall  we  say  to  these  things  ? 
There  were   peculiarities   in  this   transaction  we 
know,  arising  from  the  revealed  purpose  of  God 
toward  the  descendants  of  Abraham  in  the  line 
of  Sarah  and  Rebekak.     The  purpose  was  of  eter- 
nal origin,  and  the  promise  of  early  date.     Jacob 
was  to  transmit  the  promise,  and  in  his  descend- 
ants it  was  to  be  fulfilled,  and  forever  to  remain 
the  source  of  the  strongest  hopes,  and  brightest 
prospects  of  all  the  children  of  God.     The  time 
of  its  fulfilment  was  drawing  nigh;   and  Jacob 
must  be  exiled  from  his  father's  house,  met  on  his 
way  in  the  open  field,  taught  of  God,  encouraged 
in  his  errand  to  Haran;    and  all  this,  notwith- 
standing he  was  so  wicked  a  man.     He  was  the 
descendant  of  a  pious  ancestry,  and  the  child  of 
the  covenant  which  God  had  made  with  his  fathers ; 
and  from  regard  to  this  covenant,  God  here  gra- 
ciously revealed  himself  to  him  as  his  covenant  God. 
We  do  not  read  of  his  being  a  pious  man  before 
this  period ;  nor  do  we  read  of  anything  that  is 
inconsistent  with  piety  in  his  subsequent  history. 
He  seems  to  have  become  a  converted  man  on  that 


THE  FIRST  PATRIARCH  GOING   FROM  HOME.        245 

remarkable  night,  and  during  that  gracious  inter- 
view with  the  God  of  his  fathers.  God  is  not 
wont  thus  to  establish  and  confirm  his  covenant 
with  those  who  have  no  spiritual  relation  to  it ;  so 
that,  although  the  Scriptures  are  silent  on  this  sub- 
ject, may  we  not  date  the  new-born  hopes  and  song 
of  Jacob  from  this  remarkable  scene  ? 

We  have,  therefore,  but  one  answer  to  the 
question,  when  we  inquire,  What  shall  we  say  to 
these  things  ?  We  can  only  say,  this  is  one  of  the 
facts,  of  which  heaven  will  recount  so  many,  that 
stands  out  in  illustration  of  God's  marvellous  and 
discriminating  grace.  Nor  do  the  peculiarities  of 
Jacob's  relation  to  the  Abrahamic  covenant  ob- 
scure its  lustre.  Such  is  not  the  manner  of  man, 
we  know ;  but  God's  thoughts  are  not  the  thoughts 
of  man,  nor  his  ways  man's  ways.  Jacob  is  not 
the  only  young  man  who  is  reached  by  covenanted 
influences,  in  his  wanderings  from  home,  and  in  his 
wanderings  from  God.  God  cares  for  many  a  youth 
who  does  not  yet  care  for  him,  because  he  is  a  child 
of  the  covenant  he  made  with  his  parents.  He  is 
not  the  only  young  man  whom  the  voice  of  prayer 
and  the  sins  of  youth  have  followed  into  the 
world ;  and  for  whom  the  voice  of  prayer  has  pre- 
vailed over  the  sins  of  youth.  Nor  is  he  the  only 
young  man  who  has  found  repentance  and  pardon ; 
and  who,  while  he  deserves  to  be  an  exile  from 
the  divine  favor,  has  found  the  divine  providence 


246        THE  FIRST  PATRIARCH  GOING  FROM  HOME. 

watching  over  him,  and  the  divine  grace  his  refuge. 
The  distant  heaven  has  been  accessible  to  him ;  the 
intercourse  intimate,  the  views  delightful,  the  voice 
his  Father's  voice.  Jacob's  experience  has  proba- 
bly been  the  experience  of  thousands.  Many  a 
young  man  has  thus,  as  he  has  left  his  father's 
house  on  earth,  for  the  first  time  looked  toward 
his  Father's  house  in  heaven.  Sinner  as  he  was, 
and  laden  with  guilt  and  woes,  and  perhaps  with 
a  stone  for  his  pillow,  ministering  angels  have  hov- 
ered over  his  head,  and  Jacob's  God  has  uttered 
to  him  the  words,  Behold,  I  am  with  thee  I 

The  effects  of  this  interview  with  the  God  of  his 
fathers  were  very  pleasant  upon  Jacob's  mind.  He 
thought  the  grace  was  wonderful.  He  had  little 
thought  of  such  scenes,  when  he  made  his  bed  on 
the  open  field ;  nor  were  the  impressions  they  made 
easily  forgotten.  The  narrative  on  which  we  are 
dwelling  presents  therefore  an  affecting  view 

OF  THE  OBLIGATIONS  OF  YOUNG  MEN  WHO    ARE   THUS 

the  objects  of  god's  regard!  Jacob  awoke  from 
these  visions  with  views  and  emotions  such  as  he 
had  never  possessed  before.  His  first  thought  was, 
"Verily,  the  Lord  is  in  this  place,  and  I  knew  it  not !" 
Distance  did  not  shut  him  out  from  God  ;  the  dark- 
ness did  not  hide  from  him.  He  felt  a  reverence 
for  God,  which  was  new  even  to  one  who  had  so 
often  bowed  at  his  altars.  "  He  was  afraid,  and 
said,  How  dreadful  is  this  place  ;  this  is  none  other 


THE   FIRST   PATRIARCH   GOING   FROM   HOME.        247 

than  the  house  of  God,  and  this  is  the  gate  of 
heaven  !"  He  had  heard  only  the  words  of  prom- 
ise and  the  voice  of  mercy ;  yet  he  was  afraid. 
They  were  no  ordinary  scenes  throngh  which  he 
had  passed,  and  no  ordinary  spot  of  earth  was  it 
which  he  occupied.  It  was  holy  ground  ;  for  God 
was  there.  Though  the  open  field,  it  was  the 
house  of  God ;  it  was  the  gate  of  heaven,  though 
far  from  the  abodes  of  men ;  it  was  God's  altar, 
though  but  the  stone  on  which  he  had  slept.  He 
could  think  of  little  else  than  God,  and  only  bow 
and  worship. 

He  had  been  the  Lord's  by  being  dedicated  to 
him  in  his  early  years  ;  but  he  now  acted  for  him- 
self, and  his  choice  and  purpose  were,  that  the  God 
of  his  father,  Abraham  and  Isaac,  should  be  his 
God.  On  that  hallowed  ground,  he  set  up  a 
memorial  of  God's  distinguished  goodness  and 
mercy  toward  him,  and  inscribed  upon  it  God's 
name.  "  And  Jacob  rose  up  early  in  the  morning, 
and  took  the  stone  that  he  had  put  for  his  pillow, 
and  set  it  up  for  a  pillar,  and  poured  oil  on  the 
top  of  it ;  and  he  called  the  name  of  that  place 
Beth-el."  It  was  God's  house  and  God's  altar  ;  he 
consecrated  it  to  God,  and  according  to  the  custom 
of  the  East,  anointed  it  with  oil.  Here,  in  this 
sacred  spot,  he  resolved  thenceforward  to  be  God's 
servant.  u  And  Jacob  vowed  a  vow,  saying,  If 
God  will  be  with  me  and  keep  me  in  this  way  that 


248        THE   FIRST   PATRIARCH   GOING   FROM   HOME. 

I  go,  and  will  give  me  bread  to  eat  and  raiment  to 
put  on,  so  that  I  come  again  to  my  father's  house 
in  peace  ;  then  the  Lord  shall  be  my  God? 

Such  were  young  Jacob's  impressions,  in  view 
of  God's  goodness  and  mercy  toward  him,  on  that 
memorable  night.  And  how  many  young  men 
are  there,  as  well  as  others  who  are  not  young,  who 
are  reminded  of  the  wonderful  goodness  and  mer- 
cy of  God  toward  them  both  in  early  and  later 
periods  of  their  history  ?  It  were  grateful  to  re- 
quite this  loving-kindness.  Such  mercies  and  de- 
liverances are  not  always  remembered ;  yet  is  it 
more  delightful  to  remember  and  requite,  than  to 
forget  and  neglect  them. 

You  were  strangers  in  a  strange  land,  and  the 
God  of  heaven  was  your  friend.  You  were  father- 
less, and  he  was  a  Father  to  you.  You  were  in 
"  dangers  oft,"  and  he  protected  you  ;  embarrassed 
with  difficulty  and  darkness,  and  he  guided  you  in 
a  plain  path.  You  were  oppressed  with  fear,  and 
sunk  in  despondency,  and  he  relieved  your  appre- 
hensions and  cheered  you  on  your  way.  You  were 
poor,  and  he  has  given  you  wealth ;  low  and  ab- 
ject, and  his  gentleness  has  made  you  great. 

How  fitting  the  inquiry,  "  What  shall  I  render 
to  the  Lord,  for  all  his  benefits  toward  me  ?"  You 
remember  the  time,  the  place,  where  his  paternal 
hand  was  stretched  forth  to  save  you  from  ruin  ; 
you  can  look  back  on  all  the  way  in  which  he  has 


THE  FIRST  PATRIARCH  GOING  FROM  HOME.        249 

led  you,  and  made  you  what  you  are.  Many  a 
stone  would  be  set  up  for  a  pillar,  and  many  a 
place  would  be  to  you  a  Beth-el,  if  all  the  scenes 
which  mark  the  divine  goodness  toward  you  were 
kept  in  thankful  remembrance.  It  was  a  timely 
resolution  of  Jacob,  "  The  Lord  shall  be  my  God !" 
Why  not  make  it  your  own  ?  You  will  (be  happy 
then,  even  though,  like  him,  you  have  only  a  stone 
for  your  pillow  ;  you  will  not  be  friendless  then, 
even  though  you  have  none  to  care  for  you  but 
the  God  of  Jacob. 

Jacob  did  not  become  pious  too  soon  ;  nor  was 
he  the  gainer  by  the  sins  of  his  youth.  If  you  trace 
his  history,  you  will  find  it  full  of  vexations,  dis- 
appointment, and  calamity  ;  and  his  sufferings  bore 
a  marked  analogy  to  his  sins.  More  than  once  did 
it  seem  that  his  "  gray  hairs  would  be  brought 
down  with  sorrow  to  the  grave."  Esau  and  Jacob 
met  not  often ;  it  was  easier  to  forgive  than  to 
forget.  Nor  do  we  read  of  their  meeting  after  the 
death  of  their  father.  The  bond  was  sundered 
when  Isaac  died.  It  is  a  relief  to  our  minds  to 
read  the  remark  of  the  sacred  historian,  "  And  his 
sons  Esau  and  Jacob  buried  him."  There  they 
met,  and  there  they  parted.  Their  descendants 
were  never  friends  ;  but  their  own  feuds,  we  may 
believe,  were  buried  in  the  old  man's  grave. 

This  is  an  affecting  lesson  to  the  young.  There 
is  no  such  thing  in  the  government  of  God  as  a 
ll* 


250        THE   FIRST   PATRIARCH   GOING   FROM  HOME. 

young  man  letting  conscience  swing  from  her  moor- 
ings, and  taking  his  fill  of  pleasure,  and  never 
feeling  the  oppressive  burden  of  his  former  sins. 
He  cannot  forget  them.  If  he  becomes  a  pious 
man,  they  will  haunt  his  memory ;  they  will 
creep  within  the  folds  of  his  midnight  dreams ; 
they  put  a  weapon  into  the  hands  of  his  great 
spiritual  adversary,  and  often  give  a  sting  to 
the  fiery  darts  of  the  devil.  None  appreciate 
as  they  ought  to  do,  the  claims  and  blessings 
of  early  -piety.  A  careful  inspection  of  almost 
every  man's  history,  who  does  not  consecrate  to 
God  the  dew  of  his  youth,  will  disclose  the  fact 
that  he  ordinarily  bears  the  marks  of  his  iniquity 
to  his  dying  day.  If  you  would  be  freed  from  the 
pangs  of  a  guilty  conscience,  and  the  apprehen- 
sions of  God's  displeasure ;  if  you  would  not  have 
your  fairest  hopes  blasted  in  the  bloom ;  if  you 
would  obtain  the  mastery  over  yourself,  and  not 
be  the  sport  of  appetites  and  passions  that  destroy 
both  body  and  soul  in  hell ;  if  you  would  enjoy 
that  measure  of  blessing  which  God  gives  you  on 
earth,  and  besides  this,  have  a  treasure  so  safe 
that  it  never  can  be  lost ;  if  you  would  be  pre- 
pared for  death,  and  not  be  afraid  to  die ;  early 
seek  the  face  of  the  God  of  Jacob.  Commit  your- 
self to  the  care  of  Israel's  shepherd.  Do  it  soon ; 
do  it  now.  Wait  not  until  this  bright  morning 
of  human  life  is  overcast ;  till  the  sounds  of  joy 


THE  FIRST   PATRIARCH   GOING   FROM   HOME.        251 

have  ceased,  and  the  flowers,  which  are  now  opening 
to  its  rising  sun,  lie  desolate  under  the  cold  wind. 
Wait  not  until  the  snow  of  time  falls  on  your 
hoary  head,  when  the  long  winter's  night  shuts  in, 
and  the  stone  which  you  once  purposed  to  set 
up  as  God's  altar,  shall  be  set  up  by  other  hands 
only  to  mark  your  grave. 


CHAPTER    XXIII. 
€Jfi  fm\  Snatcnrr  nf  l^r^stling  mif {j 

Many  a  long  year  passed  away  before  Jacob 
made  bis  arrangements  to  return  to  the  Holy 
Land.  He  could  not  forget  tbe  circumstances 
of  bis  departure;  and  bis  beart  still  trembled 
"  for  fear  of  bis  brotber  Esau." 

Esau,  in  tbe  mean  time,  bad  settled  in  tbe  moun- 
tains east  of  tbe  river  Jordan,  and  bad  become  a 
ricb  and  powerful  prince.  Tbe  country  wbich  be 
occupied  at  the  time  of  Jacob's  return  from  Meso- 
potamia, was  originally  possessed  by  tbe  descend- 
ants of  Seir ;  a  numerous  and  powerful  people  as 
early  as  tbe  time  of  Abraham,  and  whom  Esau 
subdued.  It  was  called  Mount  Seir,  or  tbe  moun- 
tains of  Seir,  and  formed  a  province  in  Arabia, 
which  was  subsequently  called  Edom,  or  Idumea, 
and  from  which  the  descendants  of  Esau  spread 
themselves  throughout  Arabia  Petrea,  south  of 
Palestine,   and  between   the   Dead  Sea   and  the 


THE  FIRST  INSTANCE  OF  WRESTLING,  ETC.      253 

Mediterranean.  In  returning  to  the  land  from 
which  he  had  been  so  long  exiled,  Jacob  con- 
ducted himself  with  all  the  caution  of  a  prudent 
man,  and  with  the  humility  and  confidence  of  one 
who  feared  God.  His  comfort  and  safety  de- 
manded that  he  should  leave  the  land  of  his  exile ; 
and  he  had  no  small  apprehension  in  view  of  his 
return  to  Palestine.  What  his  course  of  conduct 
was  is  beautifully  narrated  in  the  following  para- 
graph : 

"  And  Jacob  was  left  alone  ;  and  there  wrestled 
a  man  with  him  until  the  breaking  of  the  day. 
And  when  he  saw  that  he  prevailed  not  against 
him,  he  touched  the  hollow  of  his  thigh  ;  and  the 
hollow  of  Jacob's  thigh  was  out  of  joint  as  he 
wrestled  with  him.  And  he  said,  Let  me  go,  for 
the  day  breaketh.  And  he  said,  I  will  not  let 
thee  go,  except  thou  bless  me.  And  he  said  unto 
him,  What  is  thy  name  ?  And  he  said,  Jacob.  And 
he  said,  Thy  name  shall  be  no  more  called  Jacob, 
but  Israel ;  for  as  a  prince  hast  thou  power  with 
God  and  with  men,  and  hast  prevailed.  And  Ja- 
cob asked  him  and  said,  Tell  me  I  pray  thee  thy 
name.  And  he  said,  Wherefore  is  it  thou  dost  ask 
after  my  name  ?  And  he  blessed  him  there.  And 
Jacob  called  the  name  of  the  place  Peniel ;  for  I 
have  seen  God  face  to  face,  and  my  life  is  pre- 
served. And  as  he  passed  over  Peniel,  the  sun 
rose  upon  him,  and  he  halted  upon  his  thigh." 


254  THE  FIRST   INSTANCE  OF   WRESTLING 

The  event  of  which  we  have  the  preceding  rec- 
ord, is  confessed  to  be  of  difficult  explanation. 
Some  have  supposed  that  the  appearance  of  the 
angel,  and  Jacob's  wrestling  with  him,  was  a  mere 
prophetic  vision,  designed  to  cheer  and  comfort 
the  holy  patriarch,  by  the  assurance  that  the  dan- 
ger which  he  immediately  apprehended,  should  be 
averted,  and  that  he  should  be  prospered  in  his 
return  to  his  native  land.  Others  have  concluded 
that  the  transaction  is  to  be  understood  literally, 
and  that  it  is  only  with  this  interpretation  that 
the  import  of  it  can  be  discerned. 

Without  attempting  a  solution  of  all  the  difficul- 
ties which  this  interpretation  is  supposed  to  in- 
volve, we  have  no  hesitation  in  adopting  it,  and 
no  difficulty  in  discerning  the  practical  design  of 
the  narrative.  Jacob  was  a  child  of  God  and  the 
peculiar  care  of  his  covenanted  mercy.  Though 
he  had  been  far  from  uniformly  conducting  him- 
self as  a  good  man,  and  had  sometimes  manifested 
no  small  distrust  in  the  divine  faithfulness  ;  he  con- 
tinued to  be  the  object  of  the  divine  guidance  and 
protection.  He  had  for  many  years  been  an  exile 
from  his  father's  house,  and  a  servant  in  the  fami- 
ly of  a  covetous  and  envious  kinsman.  Worn  out 
with  cruelty  and  oppression,  he  was  now  return- 
ing, accompanied  by  a  beloved  family,  and  a  nu- 
merous retinue,  which  God  had  given  him  while 
in  Padanaram.     On  his  way,  he  was  informed  that 


WITH  THE  ANGEL  OF  THE  COVENANT.     255 

his  brother  Esau  was  coming  to  meet  him  with 
four  hundred  men.  He  recollected  what  had 
taken  place  in  the  family  of  his  father,  and  what 
reason  he  had  to  expect  that  the  intentions  of  his 
brother  were  hostile.  It  is  not  surprising  that  he 
was  "  greatly  afraid  and  distressed,"  and  that  in 
this  embarrassment,  he  lifted  up  his  soul  to  God. 

In  that  memorable  vision  in  the  open  field,  God 
had  said  to  him,  "  The  land  whereon  thou  liest,  to 
thee  will  I  give  it,  and  to  thy  seed."  He  knew 
that  God  was  faithful ;  while  the  dispensations  of 
his  providence,  and  probably  the  presentiments 
of  his  own  mind,  indicated  to  him,  that  the  time 
was  not  far  distant  when  the  promise  would  be 
fulfilled.  It  is  no  marvel  that  he  "  was  strong  in 
faith,  giving  glory  to  God."  Yet  it  was  not  a  blind 
and  heedless  confidence.  After  having  adopted 
such  measures  as  his  wisdom  and  discretion  sug- 
gested to  steal  upon  the  heart  of  Esau,  he  made 
arrangements  to  spend  the  night  in  solemn  and 
fervent  supplications.  A  portion  of  the  night 
he  had  resolved  to  spend  alone,  and  therefore 
rose  up  long  before  day,  and  sent  his  wives 
and  children  and  servants  over  the  brook,  and 
then  retired  to  a  solitary  place,  to  renew  his 
prayer.  While  he  was  "  stirring  up  himself  to 
take  hold  on  God,"  and  to  pour  out  his  soul  with 
"  strong  crying  and  many  tears,"  a  person  in  the 
form  of  a  man  appeared  to  him,  and  engaged  in 


256  THE  FIRST  INSTANCE  OF  WRESTLING 

wrestling  with  him.  Jacob  soon  perceived  that 
his  antagonist  was  more  than  human,  and  there- 
fore put  forth  all  his  strength  and  ardor  in  wrest- 
ling for  a  blessing.  The  prophet  Hosea  more  than 
intimates  that  there  was  something  spiritual  in  this 
conflict,  as  well  as  natural ;  for  he  says,  Jacob  "  had 
power  over  the  angel  and  prevailed ;  he  wept  and 
made  supplication?  When  the  angel  saw  that  he 
did  not  prevail  against  Jacob,  he  "touched  the 
hollow  of  Jacob's  thigh,"  and  put  it  out  of  joint. 
Notwithstanding  this,  the  patriarch  continued  the 
conflict ;  and  when  the  angel  said,  "  Let  me  go," 
he  adhered  to  his  purpose,  and  said,  "  I  will  not 
let  thee  go,  except  thou  bless  me."  The  heavenly 
messenger  then  assured  him  that  his  holy  exertion 
and  importunity  were  not  in  vain, — and  "he 
blessed  him  there." 

This  event  in  the  life  of  the  patriarch  Jacob  has 
been  so  universally  considered  as  exhibiting  the 
propriety,  nature,  and  encouragements  of  prayer, 
that  nothing  is  more  common  among  Christians 
than  to  speak  of  prayer  under  the  idea  of  xorestling 
with  God,  and  of  successful  prayer  under  the  idea 
of  wrestling  like  Jacob,  and  prevailing  like  Israel. 

Among  the  many  truths  which  this  incident  in- 
culcates, one  is  that  men  have  but  one  refuge; 
there  is  but  One  to  whom  they  can  look  for  relief 
in  times  of  distress  and  danger.  The  object  of 
Jacob's  supplication  was  the  Supreme  God.    After 


WITH  THE  ANGEL  OF  THE  COVENANT.     257 

he  had  been  wrestling  with  the  angel  Jehovah  in 
human  form,  he  says,  "I  have  seen  God  face  to  face." 

The  Old  Testament  Scriptures  frequently  speak 
of  a  distinguished  personage  under  the  name  of  the 
angel  of  Jehovah*  To  Hagar  the  angel  of  Jeho- 
vah said,  "  I  will  exceedingly  multiply  thy  seed  ;" 
and  then  it  is  added,  "  She  called  upon  the  name 
of  Jehovah  who  had  spoken  to  her."  The  angel 
of  Jehovah,  we  are  told,  called  to  Abraham  and 
said,  "  By  myself  I  have  sworn,  saith  Jehovah,  that 
in  blessing  I  will  bless  thee."  To  Moses,  we  are 
told,  that  the  angel  of  Jehovah  appeared  in  the 
burning  bush  at  Horeb,  and  said,  I  am  the  God  of 
thy  father  ;  I  am  that  I  am."  The  patriarch  Jacob 
more  than  once  speaks  of  this  angel  of  Jehovah. 
"  The  angel  of  God  said  to  me,  I  am  the  God  of 
Beth-el."  When  he  blessed  the  sons  of  Joseph, 
his  language  was, "  The  God  in  whose  presence  my 
fathers  Abraham  and  Isaac  have  walked,  the  God 
who  hath  nourished  me  from  my  first  being  to  this 
day,  the  angel  who  hath  redeemed  me  from  all 
evil,  bless  the  lads  !" 

Jacob  knew  with  whom  he  was  wrestling ;  it 
was  the  angel  of  the  covenant,  the  God  of  Abra- 
ham in  human  form,  in  some  respects  distinct 
from  God,  yet  truly  and  essentially  the  same  with 
God.  The  divine  kindness  had  been  most  con- 
spicuous toward  him  during  his  absence  from  his 

*  "  Scripture  Testimony  to  the  Messiah,"  by  John  Pye  Smith,  D.D. 


258  THE  FIRST  INSTANCE   OF   WRESTLING 

native  land.  Many  a  time  he  would  have  sunk 
under  the  load  of  oppression,  and  been  over- 
come, if  the  God  of  his  fathers  had  not  been  his 
refuge.  Well  might  Israel  say,  "  If  it  had  not 
been  the  Lord  who  was  on  our  side,  when  men  rose 
up  against  us,  then  they  had  swallowed  us  up 
quick,  when  their  wrath  was  kindled  against  us." 
He  was  not  insensible  of  the  gracious  interpositions 
of  a  kind  providence  in  what  was  past,  nor  did  he 
overlook  them  in  time  to  come.  Involved  as  he 
now  was  in  perplexity  and  trouble,  and  appre- 
hending his  brother's  anger,  instead  of  meditating 
how  he  should  meet  force  with  force,  his  only  re- 
sort was  to  lay  the  whole  concern  before  God,  with 
the  hope  that  he  would  graciously  interpose,  and 
so  direct  the  circumstances  and  events  of  his  jour- 
ney, that  peace  and  safety  might  be  the  happy 
issue  of  this  unexpected  meeting.  He  lifted  up 
his  soul  to  God  in  a  short  ejaculation,  so  humble, 
so  fervent,  so  appropriate,  that  all  the  piety  of  his 
heart  seems  to  flow  out,  and  you  at  once  discover 
where  his  strength  lies,  and  what  he  considers  his 
last  resort.  "  And  Jacob  said,  O  God  of  my  father 
Abraham,  and  God  of  my  father  Isaac,  the  Lord 
which  saidst  unto  me,  Return  unto  thy  country  and 
to  thy  kindred,  and  I  will  deal  well  with  thee  !  I 
am  not  worthy  of  the  least  of  all  the  mercies  and  all 
the  truth  which  thou  hast  showed  unto  thy.servant, 
for  with  my  staff  I  passed  over  this  Jordan,  and 


WITH  THE  ANGEL  OF  THE  COVENANT.     259 

now  I  am  become  two  bands.  Deliver  me  I  pray 
thee  from  the  hand  of  my  brother,  from  the  hand  of 
Esau,  for  I  fear  him  lest  he  will  come  and  smite 
me,  and  the  mother  with  the  children."  Not  satis- 
fied with  this,  he  set  apart  a  night  of  prayer,  when 
he  might  enjoy  a  season  of  calm  and  undisturbed 
access  to  the  mercy-seat. 

Times  of  fear  and  trouble  are  times  of  special 
prayer  with  the  people  of  God.  No  sooner  are 
they  pressed  with  perplexity,  than  they  set  their 
hearts  to  seek  relief  at  the  throne  of  grace.  It  is 
their  privilege,  at  such  seasons  particularly,  to  be 
alone  with  God,  and  to  seek  opportunities  in  which 
they  may  indulge  all  the  unrestricted  familiarity 
and  fervor  of  children.  They  find  relief  only  in 
calm  and  deliberate  communion  with  God.  Their 
hope  is  in  the  favor  of  God  alone  ;  their  desires 
are  directed  immediately  to  him  ;  they  have  pecu- 
liar views  and  feelings  which  they  wish  none  but 
God  to  know;  and  therefore,  like  Jacob,  often 
desire  to  be  left  alone,  that  they  may  speak  with 
God,  as  a  man  speaketh  with  his  friend. 

This  may  appear  strange  to  the  men  of  the  world, 
who  have  no  impressions  of  the  being  and  overrul- 
ing providence  of  the  Most  High.  Such  persons 
have  no  practical  views  of  his  minute  inspection  of 
the  concerns  of  men,  or  of  his  all-pervading  care,  and  , 
no  confidence  in  his  faithfulness  and  mercy.  But  is  it 
an  absurd  belief,  that  the  omnipresent  God  watches 


260  THE   FIRST   INSTANCE   OF   WRESTLING 

over  all  the  events  of  this  lower  world,  and  that 
he  can  and  does  answer  the  prayers  of  his  people  ? 
However  the  men  of  the  world  may  reason  in  sea- 
sons of  peace  and  prosperity ;  in  seasons  of  danger 
they  feel  their  dependence  as  well  as  other  men. 
Whatever  the  philosopher  may  say  in  the  hours 
of  cold  debate ;  in  the  hour  of  trouble,  there  is 
something  that  leads  him,  as  it  were  involuntarily, 
to  exclaim,  Lord,  help  me  !  And  what  the  phi- 
losopher may  be  constrained  to  do  from  the  dic- 
tates of  nature,  the  Christian  does  from  intelli- 
gence, affection,  and  choice.  His  heart  is  placed 
on  God.  He  feels  his  dependence.  He  is  habitu- 
ally sensible  that  "  every  good  gift  and  every  per- 
fect gift  cometh  down  from  the  Father  of  lights. 
with  whom  is  no  variableness,  neither  shadow 
of  turning.  On  every  emergency,  it  is  his  priv- 
ilege to  repair  to  God  as  his  only  refuge  and 
helper.  Nowhere  else  can  the  people  of  God  go 
so  well,  as  to  a  throne  of  grace ;  nowhere  else 
can  they  go  so  confidently,  when  threatened  with 
evil,  or  alarmed  with  fears.  God  is  our  refuge 
and  strength,  a  every  present  help  in  trouble. 

But,  Jww  are  the  people  of  God  to  look  to  him  in 
times  of  distress  and  danger  ?  Here  much  may 
be  learned  from  the  conduct  of  the  patriarch. 
One  of  the  first  thoughts  which  suggests  itself 
from  this  narrative,  as  to  the  manner  in  which  we 
ought  to  draw  nigh  unto  God,  is  that  it  should  be 


WITH  THE  ANGEL  OF  THE  COVENANT.    261 

in  unfeigned  sincerity.  Men  may  draw  nigh  unto 
him  with  their  lips,  while  their  heart  is  far  from 
him.  Good  men  often  do  this ;  but  this  is  not  the 
sacrifice  with  which  God  is  well  pleased.  He  has 
respect  to  the  heart. 

It  is  equally  obvious  that  the  true  spirit  of 
prayer  is  the  spirit  of  earnestness  and  fervency. 
God  has  a  right  to  expect  that  when  men  come  to 
him  for  help,  they  should  feel  their  wants,  should 
know  the  errand  on  which  they  come,  and  should 
urge  it  with  earnestness  and  fervency.  No  person 
can  read  the  account  of  Jacob's  wrestling  with  the 
angel,  without  being  convinced  that  he  was  in 
earnest.  They  are  touching  words  which  say  that 
"  he  wept  and  made  supplication."  Some  ardency 
of  affection  is  due  to  the  greatness  and  glory  of 
that  God  whom  we  worship;  to  approach  him 
with  indifference  and  carelessness,  is  to  treat  him 
with  disdain.  The  character  of  men  too,  as  crea- 
tures, and  as  sinners,  may  well  give  urgency  to 
their  desires  when  they  come  before  the  Holy 
God.  There  is  also  a  fitness  in  this  spirit  which 
disposes  the  people  of  God  to  appreciate  his  mer- 
cies and  to  receive  them  with  thankfulness.  Every- 
thing which  bears  a  relation  to  the  being  they  ap- 
proach, to  the  object  of  their  access,  and  the  char- 
acter of  the  worshippers,  justifies  and  demands  a 
holy  fervency  and  engagedness. 

Not  inconsistent  with  this  is   an  humble   and 


262  THE  FIRST   INSTANCE   OF   WRESTLING 

modest  spirit.  The  spirit  of  prayer  is  far  from 
being  boisterous  and  self-confident.  It  is  the  un- 
assuming disposition  of  a  child,  who,  though  he 
has  no  claims,  has  many  entreaties  to  urge  upon 
the  heart  of  its  offended  parent.  Men  who  virestle 
with  God  for  his  blessing,  like  Jacob,  must  lose 
their  own  strength,  and  become  sensible  of  their 
weakness  and  dependence.  God  is  often  pleased 
to  make  his  people  feel  this,  in  the  seasons  of  their 
most  ardent  expectation  in  prayer.  As  the  angel 
touched  the  hollow  of  Jacob's  thigh,  and  showed 
him,  that  instead  of  gaining  the  victory  by  his  own 
vigor  and  activity,  he  was  entirely  at  the  mercy 
of  his  competitor ;  so  does  God,  and  often  in  a  very 
remarkable  manner,  convince  his  people  that  it  is 
not  by  their  own  strength  that  they  prevail  with 
him.  All  who  wrestle  with  him  must  be  made 
sensible  of  their  own  weakness,  of  their  utter  un- 
worthiness,  and  of  their  complete  and  absolute 
dependence  on  his  free  and  sovereign  mercy.  The 
reason  why  Christians  strive  so  long  with  God 
without  success,  is  that  they  so  often  strive  in 
their  own  strength,  and  secretly  depend  on  them- 
selves rather  than  on  him.  The  spirit  of  self-con- 
fidence and  self-righteousness  cleaves  to  their  best 
efforts  ;  and  it  is  necessary  for  them  often  to  wrestle 
long  and  hard,  and  meet  with  unexpected  tokens 
of  their  impotency  before  they  are  truly  con- 
vinced of  it.     Jacob  no  doubt  strove  too  much  in 


WITH  THE  ANGEL  OF  THE  COVENANT.    263 

his  own  strength,  and  trusted  too  much  to  his  own 
power ;  and  had  he  succeeded  in  wrestling  with 
the  angel  without  having  his  thigh  dislocated,  he 
might  have  supposed  his  own  arm  had  gotten  him 
the  victory.  And  are  not  Christians  exposed  to 
the  same  temptation  ?  How  often  do  they  find 
themselves  giving  a  secret  merit  to  their  own  du- 
ties—how often  expecting  to  be  heard  for  their 
much  speaking— how  often  do  their  fears  and 
hopes  rise  and  fall  according  to  the  freeness  and 
fervency  of  their  petitions ;  when  at  the  same  time 
they  have  no  special  views  of  their  un  worthiness, 
and  no  holy  breathings  that  the  Lord  may  be 
magnified  !  The  opposite  of  this  disposition  is  the 
spirit  of  prayer. 

We  would  add  to  this  humble  and  self-diffident 
spirit,  the  spirit  of  perseverance  and  importunity. 
When  believers  are  made  sensible  that  they  cannot 
prevail  with  God  by  their  own  strength  or  righteous- 
ness, and  at  the  same  time  do  not  relinquish  their 
importunate  pleadings  at  the  throne  of  grace,  they 
have  the  true  spirit  of  prayer.  And  here  the  con- 
duct of  Jacob  speaks  volumes.  Though  while  he 
was  wrestling  his  thigh  was  put  out  of  joint,  yet 
he  was  so  intent  upon  obtaining  the  blessing,  that 
he  kept  his  hold  on  his  Antagonist,  and  refused  to 
give  up  the  conflict.  The  blessing  appeared  so 
valuable,  and  in  his  view  was  so  entirely  depend- 
ing on  the  will  of  his  superior,  that  his  own  im- 


264  THE  FIRST   INSTANCE  OF   WRESTLING 

potence,  so  far  from  inducing  him  to  give  up  the 
contest,  led  him  to  persevere  with  the  more  de- 
termined resolution.  He  hung  upon  him,  and 
would  not  let  him  go.  It  was  of  little  moment 
to  him  that  he  had  lost  the  power  of  victory,  or 
that  his  natural  strength  had  failed.  His  confi- 
dence was  in  God,  and  not  in  himself;  and  he  did 
not  stop  to  inquire  what  he  had  lost,  or  what  he 
suffered,  so  long  as  he  could  obtain  the  blessing. 

How  few  are  there  who  wrestle  like  Jacob,  and 
have  the  highest  confidence  and  expectation  when 
their  strength  is  all  gone !  There  are  difficulties 
in  coming  to  the  mercy-seat  which  very  often  dis- 
hearten and  discourage  them.  Their  souls  are 
sad.  The  prospect  is  gloomy.  They  weep.  They 
make  supplication  with  strong  cries.  Though  God 
appears  as  their  covenant  God,  and  stands  engaged 
by  his  promise  to  hear  their  prayers ;  yet  there 
are  obstacles  in  their  path  which  they  know  not 
how  to  surmount,  and  difficulties  which  they  feel 
unable  to  remove.  They  do  all  in  their  power 
to  come  nigh  to  God,  but  all  is  darkness,  and 
they  have  no  cheering  tokens  of  his  favor.  They 
struggle  hard,  but  see  very  little  fruit  of  their 
prayers.  They  go  to  their  closets  and  return 
from  them,  but  everything  is  gloomy  and  unsatis- 
fying. The  blessing  is  still  at  a  distance,  and  they 
feel  strong  temptations  to  relax  their  diligence  and 
abate  their  zeal.     If  they  do  not  immediately  gain 


WITH  THE  ANGEL  OF  THE  COVENANT.    265 

their  object,  they  sink  down  under  the  pressure  of 
their  dependence  and  worthlessness ;  their  love 
grows  cold,  their  faith  weak,  and  all  their  exertion 
dies  away.  It  is  not  so  with  those  who  are  truly 
engaged  in  prayer.  If  God  withholds  the  light 
of  his  countenance,  this  increases  their  impor- 
tunity ;  if  they  painfully  feel  their  own  weakness 
and  unworthiness,  this  inspires  them  with  perse- 
verance and  hope.  Never  are  they  so  truly  en- 
gaged in  pleading  with  God,  and  in  hanging  upon 
his  mercy,  as  when  they  feel  emptied  of  self,  de- 
pendent on  God,  worthless  and  useless  in  them- 
selves ;  and  as  when  they  feel,  that  without  his  fa- 
vor and  gracious  answer  to  their  requests,  they 
must  irrecoverably  sink.  O  it  is  then,  when  all 
the  power  of  resistance  is  gone ;  when,  by  some 
sacred  touch  their  strength  is  turned  into  weak- 
ness ;  when  just  about  to  sink,  they  fall  into  the 
arms  of  mercy,  they  hang  upon  the  bosom  of 
their  Lord,  feel  that  they  cannot  give  up  the 
conflict,  and  exclaim,  though  thou  slay  me,  yet 
will  I  trust  in  thee — and  with  holy  fervency 
resolve,  "  I  will  not  let  thee  go,  except  thou  bless 
meP"1  Thus  they  have  the  pure  spirit  of  supplica- 
tion. This  is  cleaving  to  God,  when  our  hearts 
and  our  hands  are  broken  off  from  every  other 
confidence.  This  is  prayer.  This  is  the  prayer 
of  faith.  This  is  wrestling  like  Jacob,  and  pre- 
vailing like  Israel. 

VOL.  II. 12 


266  THE   FIRST   INSTANCE   OF   WRESTLING 

And  what  are  the  grounds  we  have  to  hope  that 
they  who  thus  seek  the  Lord  shall  not  seek  in  vain  ? 

When  men  possess  this  spirit  of  sincerity,  of 
earnestness,  of  humility  and  dependence ;  and  es- 
pecially, when  they  become  confident  that  their 
success  does  not  depend  on  their  own  exertions, 
and  yet  still  continue  to  strive  with  God ;  they 
shall  receive  his  blessing.  Jacob  saw  that  his  own 
strength  was  gone,  but  he  also  knew  that  the  mer- 
cy of  God  was  not  exhausted.  It  was  at  this  crit- 
ical moment,  that  his  faith  and  hope  fastened  on 
the  divine  compassions  and  faithfulness,  and  he 
resolved  he  would  not  cease  his  supplications. 
Yea,  his  resolute  and  determined  faith  could  say, 
"  I  will  not  let  thee  go  until  thou  bless  me  !"  And 
God  blessed  him  there.  His  name  was  no  more 
Jacob,  but  Israel.  Every  true  Israelite,  who,  like 
Jacob,  wrestles  with  God  in  a  spiritual  agony,  im- 
portunately pleading  for  mercy,  and  resolving  not 
to  desist  from  his  most  fervent  supplications,  shall 
find  favor.  Those  who  so  address  his  throne  as 
to  show  that  they  are  in  earnest, — that  they  truly 
rely  upon  his  mercy, — that  they  cannot  be  denied 
his  favor, — that  they  never  will  give  up  their  en- 
treaties, shall  be  heard.  That  prayer  of  faith, 
which  as  it  were  takes  hold  of  the  desired  favor, 
apprehends  the  divine  promise,  and  tests  the  di- 
vine mercy  and  faithfulness,  will  always  prevail. 

This   is   the  supplication   which    God   has   re- 


WITH  THE  ANGEL  OF  THE  COVENANT.     267 

quired,  and  to  which  he  has  made  promises  of 
acceptance.  He  has  said,  "Ye  that  make  men- 
tion of  the  Lord,  keep  not  silence ;  and  give  him 
no  rest."  The  same  truth  our  blessed  Lord 
teaches  in  his  own  admirable  manner.  "And 
he  spake  a  parable  unto  this  end,  that  men  ought 
always  to  pray,  and  not  to  faint.  Saying,  There 
was  in  a  city  a  judge  which  feared  not  God,  nei- 
ther regarded  man :  and  there  was  a  certain  widow- 
in  that  city;  and  she  came  unto  him,  saying, 
Avenge  me  of  my  adversary.  And  he  would  not 
for  awhile :  but  afterward  he  said  within  himself, 
Though  I  fear  not  God,  nor  regard  man,  yet  be- 
cause this  widow  troubleth  me,  I  will  avenge  her, 
lest  by  her  continual  coming,  she  weary  me.  And 
the  Lord  said,  Hear  what  the  unjust  judge  saith. 
And  shall  not  God  avenge  his  own  elect,  which 
cry  day  and  night  unto  him,  though  he  bear  long 
with  them?  I  tell  you,  he  will  avenge  them 
speedily."  To  the  same  purpose,  he  also  spake 
another  parable,  saying,  "  Which  of  you  shall 
have  a  friend,  and  shall  go  to  him  at  midnight 
and  say  unto  him,  Friend,  lend  me  three  loaves, 
for  a  friend  of  mine  in  his  journey  is  come  to  me 
and  I  have  nothing  to  set  before  him;  and  he 
from  within  shall  answer,  saying,  Trouble  me  not ; 
the  door  is  now  shut,  and  my  children  are  now 
with  me  in  bed,  I  cannot  rise  and  give  thee.  I 
say  unto  you,  though  he  will  not  rise  and  give 


268  THE  FIRST  INSTANCE  OF  WRESTLING 

him  because  he  is  his  friend,  yet  because  of  his 
importunity,  he  will  rise  and  give  him,  as  many 
as  he  needeth.  And  I  say  unto  you,  Ask,  and  it 
shall  be  given  you :  seek,  and  ye  shall  find ;  knock, 
and  it  shall  be  opened  unto  you :  for  every  one 
that  asketh,  receiveth ;  and  he  that  seeketh,  find- 
eth ;  and  to  him  that  knocketb,  it  shall  be  opened." 

The  kind  and  gracious  Lord  has  always  allowed 
himself  to  be  influenced  and  overcome  by  his  dear 
children.  The  intercessions  of  Abraham  so  far 
prevailed  upon  him  to  spare  the  cities  of  the  plain, 
that  he  said  he  would  not  destroy  them,  if  ten 
righteous  men  could  be  found  there.  The  inter- 
cessions of  Moses  influenced  him  to  spare  the  idol- 
atrous Israelites  at  Sinai.  The  prayers  of  Joshua 
influenced  him  to  arrest  the  sun  and  moon  in  their 
orbits,  until  he  had  vanquished  the  enemies  of  his 
people.  The  prayers  of  David  intercepted  the 
blow  of  the  destroying  angel,  when  he  stood  with 
a  drawn  sword  over  Jerusalem.  "  Elias,  a  man  of 
like  passions  with  us,  prayed  that  it  might  not  rain, 
and  it  rained  not  on  the  earth  for  the  space  of 
three  years  and  six  months.  And  he  prayed 
again  that  it  might  rain,  and  the  heavens  gave 
rain,  and  the  earth  brought  forth  her  fruit.  Thus 
the  effectual,  fervent  prayer  of  a  righteous  man 
availeth  much." 

Though  there  may  be  reasons  why  God  should 
delay  to  answer  prayer,  yet  he  will  answer  it,  if 


WITH  THE  ANGEL  OF  THE  COVENANT.    269 

we  remain  importunate.  Such  is  the  gracious  con- 
stitution which  he  has  condescended  to  establish  in 
his  spiritual  kingdom.  He  has  given  us  energy 
and  efficiency  to  prayer.  It  is  the  surest  weapon 
in  the  Christian  armory.  While  those  whose 
hearts  are  unhumbled  and  unbelieving,  ask  and 
receive  not ;  those  who  come  to  God  through  the 
mediation  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  importu- 
nately plead  for  his  blessing,  shall  not  be  sent 
empty  away,  but  shall  prove  by  their  own  experi- 
ence, that  "  the  Lord  is  nigh  unto  those  that  fear 
him,  and  saveth  them  that  be  of  an  upright  heart." 
Christians  may  learn  from  the  example  of  Jacob 
that  they  ought  always  to  pray  and  not  to  faint. 
We  cannot  live  a  day  without  seeing  some  object 
of  prayer ; — something  for  which  it  is  proper  for 
us  to  make  supplication  to  God.  Either  in  our 
own  state  and  circumstances,  in  those  with  whom 
we  are  particularly  connected,  in  those  of  society 
in  general,  or  in  those  of  the  church  of  God,  we 
may  constantly  see  much  which  should  excite  the 
purest  feelings  of  our  souls,  and  call  forth  our 
most  fervent  and  importunate  intercessions.  The 
demand  on  this  duty  is  universal,  and  never  will 
cease.  The  helpless  infant  is  not  half  so  depend- 
ent on  a  mother's  care,  as  every  son  and  daughter 
of  Adam  is  dependent  on  God.  No  state  of  mind 
is  more  becoming  our  character  or  our  condition 
than  this  habitual  tendency  to  look   away  from 


270  THE  FIRST   INSTANCE   OF   WRESTLING 

earth  to  heaven.  Nor  is  it  enough  that  the  emo- 
tions of  a  pious  mind  are  expressed  in  those  occa- 
sional aspirations,  which  we  call  ejaculatory  pray- 
er. The  soul  is  often  too  full  to  be  satisfied  with 
this,  and  longs  to  be  alone,  that  she  may  give 
vent  to  her  desires  in  seasons  of  deliberate  and 
special  supplication.  And  in  this  delightful  duty, 
who  that  is  a  child  of  God  will  not  engage  often  ? 
Deliverances  that  we  do  not  ask  for,  mercies  that 
we  never  supplicate,  are  not  so  fraught  with 
blessing  as  those  which  are  granted  us  in  answer 
to  prayer.  God's  choicest  favors  are  reserved 
for  those  who  ask  for  them  in  faith.  The  neglect 
of  prayer  always  induces  him  to  hide  his  face 
from  us.  It  is  this  that  accounts  for  the  low  state 
of  religion  in  our  own  souls  and  in  the  souls  of 
those  who  are  around  us.  We  cannot  have  joy 
in  God,  and  walk  in  the  comfort  of  the  Holy 
Ghost,  without  great  constancy  in  prayer.  No 
temptations  from  within  or  from  without,  should 
induce  us  to  cease  wrestling  with  God. 

It  is  a  great  privilege  for  the  people  of  God  to 
have  the  comfortable  assurance  that  he  has  heard 
their  supplications.  They  may  have  it,  Those 
who  have  the  spirit  of  prayer  are  not  only  sure  of 
meeting  the  divine  approbation  and  favor,  but 
often  do  they  receive  some  pledge  of  them,  and 
bear  in  their  own  bosoms  some  memorial  that 
God  has  been  with  them.     In  the  morning  after 


WITH  THE  ANGEL  OF  THE  COVENANT.     271 

the  memorable  night  in  which  Jacob  prevailed 
with  God,  the  patriarch  passed  over  the  brook 
Jabbok  to  rejoin  his  family,  just  as  the  sun  rose, 
and  "  he  halted  upon  his  thigh."  The  conqueror 
came  off  the  field  with  marks  of  triumph ;  but 
with  an  eternal  memento  of  his  own  weakness,  and 
of  the  divine  power  and  mercy.  He  was  reminded 
of  Peniel  as  long  as  he  lived,  where  "  he  had  seen 
God  face  to  face,  and  his  life  was  preserved."  He 
had  perpetual  evidence  that  he  had  been  engaged 
in  a  successful  conflict  with  One  who  could  have 
crushed  all  his  hopes,  but  who  gave  him  power, 
and  enabled  him  to  prevail.  He  carried  about 
with  him  perpetual  evidence  of  being  the  "  worm 
Jacob,"  though  his  name  was  changed  to  Israel, 
a  prince,  or  a  conqueror  of  the  Most  High. 

Just  so  is  it  with  the  people  of  God  in  every 
age  of  the  world.  The  memorial  of  their  victory 
is  a  token  of  their  impotence.  The  best  assurances 
they  have  that  they  have  been  successful  in  their 
supplications,  are  a  deep  sense  of  their  own  un- 
worthiness  and  of  the  infinitely  free,  rich  grace  of 
God  that  they  are  what  they  are.  The  mark  of 
victory  is  the  mortification  of  a  proud  and  selfish 
heart.  As  surely  as  we  feel  any  disposition  to 
take  the  credit  of  auspicious  events  to  ourselves,  or 
to  think  that  God  has  produced  them  in  conse- 
quence of  our  goodness,  so  sure  we  may  be  that  he 
has  not  done  it  in  answer  to  our  prayers.     To  have 


272  THE  FIRST  INSTANCE  OF  WRESTLING 

any  comfortable  assurance  that  he  has  heard  the 
voice  of  our  supplications,  or  that  he  has  granted 
mercy  to  us,  or  to  others  in  answer  to  our  petitions, 
we  must  see  that  we  earnestly  desired  it — that  we 
humbly  prayed  for  it — that  we  expected  it  only 
on  the  ground  of  God's  sovereign  mercy — that  we 
have  done  nothing  to  merit  it — that  we  are  hum- 
bled under  a  view  of  receiving  it — and  that  we  are 
inclined  from  the  heart  to  ascribe  it  all  to  his 
sovereign  mercy,  through  the  mediation  of  his  dear 
Son.  As  far  as  these  emotions  exist  in  our  bosoms 
in  reviewing  the  attainment  of  any  object  for 
which  we  have  prayed,  may  we  hope  that  it  has 
been  in  answer  to  our  prayers. 

It  is  not  difficult,  therefore,  to  see  why  the 
people  of  God  receive  so  few  answers  to  prayer. 
Christians  frequently  fail  in  their  applications  to 
the  throne  of  grace.  And  the  reason  always  is, 
they  ask  amiss.  It  is  no  difficult  matter  to  tell 
why  so  many  walk  in  darkness — go  mourning  all 
the  day — attend  the  appointed  ordinances  of  the 
gospel  and  find  them  barren — why  there  is  so  lit- 
tle attention  to  religion — why  so  few  are  awakened 
— and  so  few  find  mercy,  in  the  midst  of  so  many 
prayers.  We  fail  in  this  one  thing ;  confidence  in 
ourselves  and  distrust  in  God.  There  is  very  little 
of  Jacob's  spirit  and  very  little  of  the  memorials 
of  his  success.  We  must  see  Christians  lialtinq 
more  than  we  do,  before  we  discover  any  remark- 


WITH  THE  ANGEL  OF  THE  COVENANT.    273 

able  answers  to  prayer.  Though  the  Lord's  arm 
is  not  shortened,  nor  his  ear  heavy ;  and  though 
Christians  may  appear  to  be  somewhat  fervent 
and  zealous ;  they  must  be  brought  to  lose  all 
their  strength,  or  their  prayers  will  not  "avail 
much."  How  often  do  good  men  pray  God  that 
he  would  quicken  their  own  souls — that  he  would 
pour  out  his  Spirit  and  revive  his  work — that  he 
would  bring  men  to  the  knowledge  and  love  of 
the  truth — that  he  would  send  out  his  light  and 
grace  to  the  dark  portions  of  the  earth  ; — and  how 
many  sacrifices  do  they  make  and  how  much  op- 
position do  they  withstand  in  pursuing  this  hal- 
lowed work;  yet  how  frequently  does  the  pros- 
pect darken,  rather  than  grow  brighter?  The 
truth  is,  they  are  looking  the  rather  to  see  the  ef- 
fect of  their  own  exertion,  than  the  effect  of  divine 
power  and  grace.  There  may  be  great  wrestlings 
with  God ;  but  there  must  be  also  the  dislocating 
touch  to  wither  the  confidence  of  human  strength. 
We  have  other  lessons  to  learn  beside  those  we 
have  learned.  We  must  yet  see  that  Zion  is  built 
up  "  not  by  might,  nor  by  power,  but  by  the  Spirit 
of  God."  We  must  feel  that  we  are  in  the  hands 
of  God — that  he  exercises  his  own  sovereign  pleas- 
ure— that  he  has  mercy  on  whom  he  will  have 
mercy — and  that  if  our  prayers  are  heard,  it  will 
be  entirely  owing  to  his  grace  in  Christ  Jesus,  and 
not  to  anything  we  have  done,  or  can  perform.     It 


274  THE  FIRST  INSTANCE   OF   WRESTLING 

may  appear  paradoxical  that  we  must  strive,  and 
yet  be  sensible  that  we  have  no  power  of  our  own ; 
but  it  is  no  greater  paradox  than  that  uttered  by 
the  Apostle,  when  he  said,  "When  I  am  weak, 
then  am  I  strong?  The  Christian's  conscious 
weakness  is  the  very  secret  of  his  strength.  It  is 
when  his  own  fond  and  presumptuous  confidence 
is  as  the  spider's  web,  that  he  is  most  cheered  with 
the  thought  that  he  has  omnipotence  to  lean  upon. 
It  is  only  then  that  he  who  is  of  yesterday  and 
knows  nothing,  a  creature  of  want,  infirmity  and  sin, 
becomes  peaceful  in  God's  love,  wise  in  his  wisdom, 
mighty  in  his  strength.  This  is  the  truest,  the  hap- 
piest, the  most  cheerful  and  most  effective  Christi- 
anity. Nothing  discourages,  intimidates,  crushes 
the  spirit  of  such  prayers ;  nor  does  anything  dis- 
turb its  sweet  and  heavenly  serenity.  "  Fear  not, 
thou  worm  Jacob,  for  thou  shalt  thresh  the  moun- 
tains and  beat  them  small,  and  make  the  hills  as 
chaff."  "  He  that  is  feeble  shall  be  as  David,  and 
the  house  of  David  shall  be  as  God,  as  the  angel 
of  Jehovah." 

May  not  these  thoughts  address  conviction  and 
reproof  to  those  who  are  habitually  unmindful  of 
the  duty  of  prayer  ?  Are  there  not  those  who  are 
thus  unmindful  ?  Yet  are  you  the  creatures  of  God. 
In  his  hand  your  breath  is,  and  by  his  constant 
and  powerful  visitation,  you  are  every  moment  pre- 
served in  existence.     He  is  the  author  of  all  your 


WITH  THE  ANGEL  OF  THE  COVENANT.    2*75 

mercies ;  and  yet  lie  is  the  being  whom  of  all 
others  you  can  forget  and  disregard.  You  do  not 
thank  him  for  anything  ;  you  do  not  ask  him  for 
anything.  You  do  not  supplicate  his  favor ;  you 
do  not  deprecate  his  displeasure.  You  do  not 
venerate  his  excellence  ;  you  do  not  magnify  his 
name.  No,  God  is  not  in  all  your  thoughts.  You 
do  not  desire  to  draw  near  to  him,  but  to  keep 
far  from  him.  When  you  rise  up  and  when  you 
lie  down,  you  forget  God.  Your  hearts,  your 
closets,  your  families,  all  bear  testimony  that  you 
are  afraid  of  coming  into  the  divine  presence.  In 
the  hour  of  danger,  you  can  cry  for  mercy,  and 
vow  that  you  will  not  forget  your  obligations  if 
you  are  delivered  out  of  it ;  but  in  a  little  time, 
you  are  as  thoughtless  and  prayerless  as  ever. 
Allow  me  to  ask  you,  is  such  a  course  of  conduct 
what  God  deserves  at  your  hands  ?  Is  it  not  un- 
dutiful  ?  If  your  child  should  treat  you  as  you 
have  treated  God,  would  you  not  reproach  him  as 
a  most  undutiful  child  ?  Is  it  grateful,  thus  to 
disregard  the  divine  hand  and  cherish  no  sense 
of  your  obligations  to  the  good  Being  who  has 
done  more  for  you  than  all  the  universe  be- 
side ?  Can  you  justify  such  a  prayerless  life  ? 
Does  your  conscience  feel  satisfied  ?  Do  you  never 
fill  your  own  bosoms  with  reproach,  when  you  rec- 
ollect how  you  abuse  the  Father  of  mercies? 
Can  you  be  satisfied  thus  to  live,  without  the  love 


276      THE   FIRST   INSTANCE   OF   WRESTLING,   ETC. 

of  God  in  your  hearts,  and  the  fear  of  God  before 
your  eyes  ? 

Are  you  happy  ?  Have  you  any  solid  ground 
of  hope,  either  for  the  life  that  now  is,  or  that 
which  is  to  come  ?  Do  you  feel  prepared  to  die, 
and  to  stand  before  the  judgment-seat  of  Christ  ? 
In  your  rapid  and  unobstructed  passage  to  the 
grave,  are  you  satisfied  that  all  will  be  well? 
Tell  me,  immortal  man!  do  you  never  fear  lest 
God  may  treat  you,  as  you  have  treated  him,  and 
after  all  your  thoughtlessness,  that  you  may  be- 
come an  inhabitant  of  that  world,  where  there 
is  none  to  pity  and  relieve  you,  and  where  hope 
never  comes  ?  How  wretched  must  be  that  con- 
dition, which  affords  no  pleasing  reflections,  no 
hopeful  prospects  ?  Cease  to  do  evil  and  learn  to 
do  well!  When  God  says,  Seek  ye  my  face;  let 
your  hearts  reply,  Thy  face,  0  Lord,  will  we  seek  ! 


CHAPTER    XXIV. 
€lfi  fmt  Ihhltt  of  a  Sqtog   fntyix. 

Just  before  the  death  of  Jacob,  and  during  his 
last  illness,  as  the  custom  of  the  Hebrews  was,  he 
called  his  sons  together  to  give  them  his  parting 
blessing.  In  doing  this,  the  aged  patriarch  ap- 
pears to  have  been  inspired  with  a  prophetic 
tongue,  and  while  he  described  with  great  accu- 
racy and  faithfulness  the  peculiar  characteristics 
of  his  sons,  he  predicted  what  should  befall  them 
for  a  great  while  to  come. 

Reuben,  his  first-born,  was  the  son  of  Jacob  and 
Leah.  We  know  nothing  of  his  character  except 
what  is  given  us  in  the  Mosaic  history.  The  detail 
of  a  part  of  his  life  as  found  in  the  apocryphal  book 
called  "  The  testament  of  the  twelve  patriarchs,"  is 
too  fanciful  and  spurious  to  be  accredited.  To  say 
nothing  here  of  the  shameful  crime  which  led  his 
father  to  animadvert  on  his  conduct  with  so  much 
severity,  we  are  informed  that  he  was  a  man  of  no 
stability  of  character.     He  was  precipitate,  undula- 


278        THE   FIRST   REBUKE  OF   A   DYING   FATHER. 

ting,  incoherent  and  unsolid  as  water.  On  this 
account  he  was  prenionished  that  he  should  not 
excel ;  and  on  this  account,  he  did  in  fact  lose  his 
birth-right  and  all  the  privileges  of  primogeniture. 
The  birth-right  was  given  to  Joseph,  the  kingdom 
to  Judah,  and  the  priesthood  to  Levi.  The  tribe 
of  Reuben  was  never  very  numerous,  and  never 
rose  to  any  eminence  in  Israel.  They  had  their 
inheritance  beyond  Jordan,  between  the  brooks 
Arnon  south,  and  Jazer  north,  environed  by  the 
mountains  of  Gilead  on  the  east,  and  bounded 
by  Jordan  on  the  west.  When  Moses  took  the 
census  of  the  tribes  in  the  wilderness,  this  tribe  was 
not  so  numerous  by  one  third,  as  either  Judah, 
Joseph,  or  Dan,  and  it  was  among  the  first  that 
was  earned  into  captivity.  When  and  where 
Reuben  died,  we  have  no  account,  and  where  his 
descendants  are  dispersed  at  the  present  day,  no 
man  can  tell. 

It  was  an  affecting  scene,  when  the  venerable 
patriarch,  in  that  land  of  strangers,  called  his 
twelve  sons  around  his  bed  to  listen  to  the  last 
words  which  he  would  ever  utter,  and  that  he 
might  "  tell  them  that  which  should  befall  them 
in  the  last  days."  There  is  an  extent  of  prediction 
here  uttered  which  covers  the  future  history  of 
the  twelve  tribes  of  Israel,  and  which,  so  far  as 
that  history  is  not  lost,  and  the  lines  of  demar- 
cation between  them  blotted  out  by  their  disper- 


THE  FIRST  REBUKE  OF   A   DYING   FATHER.        279 

sion,  has  been  in  a  most  remarkable  manner  ful- 
filled. 

In  uttering  these  predictions,  it  is  not  Jacob 
himself  who  speaks,  so  much  as  the  God  of  Jacob ; 
it  is  not  so  much  the  father,  as  the  Spirit  of  proph- 
ecy from  the  dying  father's  lips.  Keuben  was  not 
the  favorite  son ;  nor  was  he  unbeloved ;  in  some 
respects,  he  was  his  father's  pride,  because  he  was 
the  first-born.  If  he  was  rebuked,  it  was  in  the 
spirit  of  parental  impartiality,  and  truthful  pre- 
diction. He  was  entitled  to  the  precedency  among 
his  brethren;  and  this  his  father  acknowledged. 
"  Reuben,  thou  art  my  first-born,  my  might,  and 
the  beginning  of  my  strength,  the  excellency  of 
dignity  and  the  excellency  of  power."  But  not- 
withstanding this,  for  the  sins  of  former  years, 
and  for  his  existing  imperfections,  he  and  his 
tribe  were  to  become  an  insignificant,  if  not  a  de- 
graded people.  They  were  painful  words  which 
fell  upon  the  ear  of  this  disappointed  and  mor- 
tified son,  at  the  hour  when  he  probably  hoped 
that  his  former  wickedness  had  been  forgotten, 
and  that  he  might  receive  his  dying  father's  bless- 
ing. They  were  few,  but  emphatic  words :  "  Unsta- 
ble as  water,  thou  slialt  not  excel"  There  is  no 
reason  to  question  his  piety ;  but  he  was  an  un- 
stable man,  and  could  never  attain  any  pre-em- 
inence. 

The  religion  of  the  gospel,  while  it  effects  a 


280        THE  FIRST  REBUKE  OF  A   DYING  FATHER 

radical  transformation  in  men,  does  not  root  out 
what  is  peculiar  to  their  natural  and  individual 
character.  The  natural  character  is  affected  and 
modified,  and  indeed  directed  by  religion;  and 
go  is  religion  affected  and  modified  by  the  pecu- 
liarities of  natural  character.  When  the  princi- 
ples and  spirit  of  Christianity  are  engrafted  upon 
superior  powers  of  mind,  other  things  being  equal, 
it  turns  out  to  be  piety  of  a  superior  order. 
When  we  see  it  engrafted  upon  habits  of  caution 
and  diligence,  we  expect  to  see  it  pursuing  the 
same  wise  and  diligent  course  in  the  church  of 
God,  which  it  pursued  in  the  world.  When  we 
see  it  engrafted  upon  great  firmness  and  fortitude, 
we  expect  to  see  the  same  vigor  and  invincible 
firmness  consecrated  to  the  noblest  ends.  We  find 
such  piety  as  this  in  the  church  in  every  age,  and 
we  read  of  it  in  the  history  of  such  men  as  Abra- 
ham and  Moses,  and  Caleb  and  Joshua,  and  Paul 
and  John  in  the  sacred  Scriptures. 

There  is  an  instability  of  Christian  feeling  in 
good  men  that  does  not  always  deserve  the  oppro- 
brium of  instability  of  character.  The  best  of 
men  are  not  altogether  strangers  to  the  alternations 
of  hope  and  fear,  joy  and  sorrow,  religious  excite- 
ment and  religious  apathy ;  nor  will  they  be  di- 
vested of  them  so  long  as  they  inhabit  the  earthly 
house  of  this  tabernacle,  nor  until  their  religious 
emotions  run  in  that  more  equable  course  which, 


THE  FIRST  REBUKE  OF  A  DYING  FATHER.        281 

like  the  water  of  life,  flows  "  clear  as  crystal  from 
the  throne  of  God  and  the  Lamb." 

When  we  speak  of  Christian  instability  we 
speak  of  a  more  definable  and  tangible  thing, 
and  of  something  which  is  more  easily  detected, 
and  capable  of  being  more  successfully  controlled. 
We  speak  rather  of  the  instability  of  Christian 
practice,  than  the  instability  of  Christian  affec- 
tion. Some  Christians  are  uniform  and  consis- 
tent in  all  their  deportment.  They  are  every- 
where known  as  firm  and  stable  men ;  they  are 
not  carried  about  either  by  every  wind  of  doc- 
trine, or  every  varying  breeze  of  novelty.  By 
what  we  know  of  their  character,  it  is  no  difficult 
matter  to  tell  where  we  shall  find  them,  and  what 
part  they  will  act  under  their  varied,  and  it  may 
be  unexpected  responsibilities.  No  matter  what 
the  circumstances  are  in  which  the  providence  of 
God  places  them,  everywhere  they  discover  the 
same  integrity  and  firmness.  You  need  only  ask, 
whether  they  have  had  opportunity  to  form  their 
own  opinions,  and  to  concert  their  own  plans  of 
conduct,  in  order  to  be  satisfied  as  to  the  course 
they  will  pursue.  In  matters  of  indifference,  they 
can  become  all  things  to  all  men ;  while  in  mat- 
ters of  principle,  they  possess  invincible  firmness. 
Everywhere  they  are  the  same  men ;  in  the  world 
and  in  the  church ;  in  their  families  and  in  the 
more  extended  circles  of  their  friends ;  during  the 


282        THE  FIRST  REBUKE  OF   A  DYING  FATHER. 

week  and  on  the  Lord's-day.  In  their  religious 
duties  and  religious  relations,  you  find  them  where 
they  ought  to  be, — in  their  own  places  of  worship, 
and  sustaining  by  their  example  the  ministrations 
and  services  to  which  they  have  pledged  their  in- 
fluence. On  all  occasions  and  in  all  circumstances, 
they  are  the  same  consistent,  steadfast  men. 

All  are  not  like  these.  Some  there  are  who 
have  no  settled  opinions  of  their  own,  and  who 
are  easily  drawn  away  by  error  and  delusion.  If 
they  have  the  faith,  they  do  not  always  keep  the 
faith ;  and  if  they  hear  the  truth,  they  sometimes 
indulge  their  love  of  novelty,  and  are  found  listen- 
ing to  error.  There  is  a  class  of  professed  Chris- 
tians who  are  a  sort  of  religious  adventurers. 
They  are  disentangled  from  all  the  shackles  of  re- 
ligious habit ;  and  while  they  "  prove  all  things," 
fail  of  "  holding  fast  that  which  is  good."  They 
are  not  the  most  scrupulous  men  in  the  world ; 
and  easily  persuade  themselves  that  the  most  plia- 
ble religion  is  the  most  amiable  and  attractive, 
because  it  least  thwarts  their  inclinations.  They 
mean  to  be  good  Christians  ;  but  to  accommodate 
their  principles  and  conduct  to  the  spirit  of  the 
times.  They  take  no  pains  to  control  and  influ- 
ence this  spirit,  but,  in  their  amiable  weakness, 
submit  themselves  to  its  control.  On  the  Lord's- 
day,  they  are  at  the  church ;  on  a  week-day,  they 
may  be   found  at   the   theatre.     Sometimes  you 


THE   FIRST   REBUKE   OF   A   DYING   FATHER.        283 

see  them  instructing  a  Sabbath-school,  and  some- 
times leading  down  the  dance ;  sometimes  at  the 
communion-table,  and  sometimes  at  a  party  of 
whist.  Sometimes  they  accuse  themselves  for 
these  inconsistencies,  but  have  no  firmness  to  re- 
sist the  next  temptation  to  repeat  them.  They 
are  perpetually  varying  in  their  deportment.  They 
are  very  conscientious  in  some  things,  and  very 
loose  and  inconsiderate  in  others.  They  are  some- 
times right  and  sometimes  wrong.  They  are  firm 
as  the  hills  at  one  moment,  and  unstable  as  water 
at  the  next.  They  are  the  creatures  of  circum- 
stance. They  are  perpetually  changing  their  as- 
sociates, shifting  their  place  of  worship,  now  be- 
longing to  one  party  and  now  to  another.  They 
are  just  what  their  condition  and  their  own  un- 
stable heart  makes  them.  They  are  "double- 
minded  men" — men  who  seem  to  have  two  souls. 
They  are  perpetually  changing  the  objects  of  their 
affection,  their  opinions,  their  plans ;  so  that  they 
seem  to  be  under  the  control  of  two  minds — one 
leading  them  this  way  and  another  that.  They 
are  sad  and  guilty  alternations  between  God  and 
Mammon.  They  are  neither  safe  guides  nor  con- 
stant disciples.  This  want  of  stability  is  a  great 
and  common  imperfection  in  men  professing  god- 
liness. 

It  may  not  be  an  unprofitable  inquiry,  to  pro- 
pose for  a  few  moments'  consideration,  what  are 


284        THE  FIRST  REBUKE  OF  A  DYING  FATHER. 

some  of  the  causes  and  incentives  to  this  instabil- 
ity f  When  we  speak  of  these,  of  instability  in 
religion,  we  do  not  mean  those  unavoidable  hin- 
drances to  a  uniform  and  steady  practice  of  the 
duties  of  piety,  to  which  all  men  are  exposed,  and 
which  from  their  nature  are  beyond  control ;  but 
those  causes  which  never  exist  without  our  own 
consent,  and  which  it  is  always  in  our  power  to 
remove.  That  which  operates  most  generally 
and  most  effectually,  is  the  scanty  attainments 
in  personal  religion.  It  is  because  Christians 
have  so  little  constancy  and  perseverance  in  the 
graces  of  the  Spirit,  that  they  are  so  unstable  in 
Christian  duties.  If  they  were  always  in  the  ac- 
tual exercise  of  holy  affections,  they  could  not  fail 
to  be  more  firm  and  undeviating  in  practice.  The 
best  of  men  have  but  little  religion,  and  give  but 
very  imperfect  illustrations  of  its  power;  while 
the  still  more  painful  truth  may  not  be  suppressed, 
that  the  unstable  often  furnish,  both  to  themselves 
and  to  others,  too  much  reason  for  the  apprehen- 
sion that  they  have  a  name  to  live  while  they  are 
dead.  It  requires  more  than  a  profession  of  god- 
liness, and  more  than  a  few  evanescent  religious 
hopes,  to  "  stand  fast  and  quit  ourselves  like  men." 
Tried  piety  is  the  most  stable  piety.  The  man 
who  is  not  moved  by  the  changeful  maxims  of  a 
world  that  lieth  in  wickedness,  must  enjoy  large 
measures  of  the  favor  of  God  ;  while  to  enjoy  large 


THE  FIRST  REBUKE  OF  A  DYING  FATHER.        285 

measures  of  his  favor,  lie  must  possess  more  than 
ordinary  piety.  He  must  be  a  man  of  heroic  faith 
and  fervent  prayer,  if  his  course  is  steadfast.  He 
will  never  be  stable  in  the  varied  and  self-denying 
duties  of  the  Christian  life,  unless  he  loves  them ; 
and  I  need  not  say  that  it  is  no*  ordinary  piety 
whose  "  meat  is  to  do  the  will  of  God."  There  are 
many  seasons  in  the  religious  experience  even  of 
good  men,  when  they  are  at  such  a  distance  from 
God,  that  they  take  little  pleasure  in  doing  his  will. 
Instead  of  girding  up  their  loins  for  the  great 
battle  of  human  life,  and  pressing  onward  and  up- 
ward, they  hesitate  and  falter  in  the  conflict. 
They  put  off  their  armor,  relax  their  exertions,  and 
let  their  light  go  out  like  other  men. 

But  while  this  is  the  most  obvious  cause  of  in- 
stability, and  so  obvious,  that  it  is  almost  identi- 
cal with  the  effect,  there  are  causes  that  are  less 
obvious  and  more  subtle.  There  is  a  strong  ten- 
dency in  the  minds  of  good  men  to  form  an  undue 
and  disproportioned  estimate  of  high  religious 
frames  and  feelings.  This  exposure  is  perhaps 
natural  to  them  as  sensitive  beings,  while  it  is  often 
strengthened  and  superinduced  by  false  views  and 
erroneous  teaching.  Yet  is  this  a  topic  on  which 
we  would  speak  with  caution.  The  Scriptures,  as 
well  as  Christian  biography,  furnish  some  of  the 
most  exemplary  and  delightful  examples  of  true 
piety,  by  exhibiting  the  strength  and  ardor  of 


286        THE   FIRST   REBUKE   OF   A   DYING   FATHER. 

these  internal  emotions,  which  are  the  fruit  of  the 
Spirit.  Abraham,  Moses,  David,  Isaiah,  and  John 
were  not  less  distinguished  by  those  spiritual 
frames  of  mind  which  they  so  habitually  enjoyed, 
than  by  that  stability  of  character  by  which  their 
light  still  shines  on  this  ungodly  world.  It  forms, 
indeed,  one  of  the  most  important  doctrines  of  the 
Bible,  that  true  religion  consists  mainly  in  the 
gracious  affections  of  the  soul ;  nor  is  any  one  of 
its  duties  more  frequently  inculcated,  than  the 
duty  of  a  glowing  love,  a  melting  penitence,  and  a 
rapturous  joy  in  God.  Yet  no  divine  teachings 
have  been  more  abused  and  perverted  than  these 
by  a  certain  class  of  minds.  There  are  those  who, 
to  the  comparative  neglect  of  every  outward  duty, 
think  little  of  religion  that  does  not  enjoy,  and 
does  not  express  itself  in,  the  ecstacy  of  religious 
feeling.  The  consequence  is,  they  make  this  state 
of  mind  the  highest  point  of  attainment.  This  is 
the  great  object  of  their  reading  and  inquiry,  of 
their  prayers  and  their  labor.  The  books  that  ex- 
cite them,  the  preaching  that  excites  them,  and 
the  scenes,  and  religious  scenery  by  which  they 
are  most  excited,  form,  in  their  judgment,  the  only 
fitting  instruction,  because  they  furnish  the  only 
incentives  by  which  this  high  state  of  religious 
feeling  can  be  produced  and  sustained.  Yet  is  it 
a  very  possible  thing  for  this  state  of  mind,  even 
with  Christians  who  are  not  uninformed,  to  be  over- 


THE  FIRST   REBUKE   OF   A  DYING   FATHER.        287 

rated.  I  have  not  always  found  the  most  excitable 
to  be  the  most  uniform  and  stable.  I  have  seen 
so  many  instances  in  which  one  hour's  high  reli- 
gious enjoyment  seemed  to  be  regarded  as  a  sort 
of  offset  to  trifling  offences  and  serious  omissions 
of  duty,  that  I  look  upon  this  mere  excitability 
with  something  like  apprehension.  Of  one  thing 
I  am  well  satisfied,  that  a  disproportioned  estimate 
of  religious  frames  and  experiences  is  very  apt  to 
be  associated,  if  not  with  a  proportioned  deprecia- 
tion, with  something  like  negligence  of  moral 
duties.  Christians  who  think  mainly  of  their 
frames  and  feelings  are  not  always  the  most  watch- 
ful and  conscientious  in  regard  to  what  they  do, 
and  leave  undone.  To  devote  their  solicitude, 
their  labor,  their  prayer,  and  their  life  to  an  unin- 
terrupted and  persevering  series  of  benevolent  and 
self-denying  effort,  is  not  unfrequently  with  them  a 
secondary  thing,  and  an  inferior  expression  of  the 
Christian  piety.  They  will  not  reprobate  it  as 
a  parade  of  religion  ;  but  it  holds  a  subordinate 
place  in  their  thoughts.  And  this  error  very  nat- 
urally gives  rise  to  a  discernible  inconstancy  of 
practice  and  instability  of  character.  Christians 
are  not  always  on  the  Mount ;  and  if  their  charac- 
ter is  no  more  stable  than  their  frames  and  feelings, 
it  may  be  unstable  as  water.  With  such  miscon- 
ceptions as  these,  though  they  may  not  degenerate 
into  immorality,  and  neglect  the  external  services 


288        THE  FIRST   REBUKE   OF  A   DYING  FATHER. 

of  religion,  they  will  not  be  uniform  and  constant. 
They  will  now  and  then  break  out  in  some  quick 
vibrations,  some  unexpected  coruscations  of  piety, 
but  will  hold  forth  no  strong  and  steady  light. 
They  will  read  and  pray  only  when  they  feel  like 
it.  They  go  to  church  only  when  they  feel  like 
it.  They  govern  and  catechize  their  children  only 
when  they  feel  like  it.  They  give  to  the  cause  of 
God,  and  visit  the  widow  and  fatherless  in  their 
affliction,  and  keep  themselves  unspotted  from  the 
world,  only  when  they  feel  like  it.  They  will 
labor  and  be  indefatigable  for  a  little  while  ;  but 
when  the  fever  is  over,  they  relapse  into  death- 
like stupor. 

Another  cause  of  this  instability  will  be  found 
in  the  abuse  of  several  Christian  doctrines.  One 
of  these  is  the  doctrine  of  justification  by  faith. 
Men  sometimes  say,  since  we  are  not  justified  by 
anything  we  have  done  or  can  perform,  it  is  of 
little  consequence  whether  we  are  constant  and 
uniform  in  our  practice  or  not.  So  long  as  we  do 
not  fall  into  presumptuous  sins,  and  preserve  the 
purity  and  evidence  of  our  Christian  standing,  it 
is  not  necessary  that  we  should  be  unduly  scrupu- 
lous and  undeviating  in  works  of  righteousness. 
It  is  not  necessary  in  order  to  be  saved,  never  to 
fail  in  Christian  duty.  If  they  only  build  on  the 
sure  foundation  it  is  enough.  It  is  a  secondary 
consideration  with  them  to  be  burning  and  shining 


THE  FIRST   REBUKE  OF   A   DYING   FATHER.        289 

lights  in  the  earth,  or  to  be  firm  and  unwavering  in 
their  progress  toward  heaven. 

The  doctrine  of  the  saints'  certain  and  final  per- 
severance in  holiness  is  also  a  doctrine  which  is 
liable  to  the  same  perversion.  That  doctrine  is, 
that  where  God  of  his  infinite  mercy  has  begun  a 
work  of  grace  in  the  heart,  he  will  carry  it  on  to 
the  day  of  redemption  ;  so  that  none  of  those  who 
are  once  renewed,  shall  finally  fall  away  so  as  to 
perish.  There  may  be  those  who  are  so  unwise  to 
believe  that  if  God  has  covenanted  to  keep  them 
there  is  no  necessity  of  keeping  themselves ;  for- 
getting that  one  of  the  appointed  means  by  which 
God  has  promised  to  keep  them  is  their  own  dili- 
gence and  care.  Sometimes  they  act  under  very 
gross  misconceptions  of  this  truth,  and  then  they 
are  remiss  and  indifferent  to  their  duty ;  and  then 
again  ashamed  of  their  abuse  of  divine  goodness 
and  weary  of  their  wanderings,  they  return  to 
their  duty  with  new  zeal  and  high  promise.  They 
have  no  stability.  Their  goodness  is  like  the  early 
cloud  and  morning  dew  which  quickly  passeth 
away. 

The  same  abuse  is  made  by  multitudes  of  the 
doctrine  of  human  dependence.  They  can  do 
nothing.  They  are  altogether  dependent  on  the 
grace  of  God.  It  is  not  for  them  to  maintain  un- 
changing constancy.  We  do  not  say  that  a  man 
who  is  thus  influenced,  is  not  a  Christian ;  but  we 

VOL.  II. — 13 


290    THE  FIRST  REBUKE  OF  A  DYING  FATHER. 

do  say  that  he  is  in  danger  of  great  inconstancy. 
He  will  vacillate  between  a  view  of  his  obliga- 
tions on  the  one  hand,  and  his  dependence  on  the 
other  ;  and  overlooking  the  combined  and  steady 
influence  of  both,  he  will  possess  everything  but 
stability  and  decision. 

These  doctrines  are  true ;  but  like  every  other 
truth,  they  are  often  abused.  One  would  think, 
that  they  are  in  their  own  nature  fitted  to  produce 
the  very  opposite  effect  from  that  to  which  we 
refer.  The  encroachments  of  sin  must  be  very  art- 
ful, and  the  heart  very  accessible  to  the  influence 
of  error,  where  truths  like  these,  which  furnish  the 
grand  encouragement  to  holy  living,  are  made  the 
occasion  of  carelessness  and  instability.  If  these 
doctrines  are  true,  who  would  think  of  gaining  the 
prize,  without  reaching  the  goal  ?  of  wearing  the 
crown,  without  achieving  the  victory  ?  They  do  in- 
deed teach  us,  that  the  most  aspiring  and  confident 
must  "  work  out  his  salvation  with  fear  and  trem- 
bling ;"  but  they  also  teach  us,  that  "  when  we  are 
weak,  then  are  we  strong."  They  do  indeed  teach 
us,  that  on  the  slippery  ascent  to  heaven  it  behooves 
us  to  "  take  heed  lest  we  fall ;"  but  they  also  teach 
us  the  value  and  power  of  the  truth,  "  Hold  thou 
me  up,  and  I  shall  be  safe." 

Another  cause  of  this  instability  is,  that  good 
men  so  often  underrate  their  own  exertions.  No 
man   is  too   humble,   nor    can    he   ever   be   too 


THE  FIRST   REBUKE  OF   A   DYING   FATHER,        291 

thoroughly  divested  of  self-sufficiency.  Pride  and 
self-dependence  are  the  bane  of  those  graces,  and 
that  patient  and  undiscouraged  effort  which  form 
the  most  symmetrical  and  stable  Christianity. 
But  we  have  yet  to  learn  that  it  savors  of  this  pre- 
sumptuous spirit,  to  aim  at  the  prize  of  our  high 
calling,  or  to  make  our  arrangements  for  laborious 
effort,  and  rich  results.  Who  should  aim  at  this, 
if  not  a  redeemed  sinner  ?  Who  has  the  warrant 
so  to  do,  and  the  means  and  motives  of  doing  it, 
and  the  promised  grace  to  stimulate  him,  if  not 
the  Christian  ?  There  are  elements  in  Christianity 
that  are  fitted  to  originate  the  highest  purposes, 
and  to  form  the  noblest  character.  We  may  not 
allow  ourselves  to  say  that  others,  more  favored 
and  more  worthy,  may  do  something  in  the  world ; 
and  that,  if  we  may  but  be  enabled  to  take  care 
of  our  own  single  selves,  it  is  as  much  as  we  hope 
to  accomplish.  How  many  are  there  who  say, 
Even  should  we  attempt  to  be  laborious  and  useful, 
it  will  be  of  very  little  account.  With  such  self- 
distrust,  it  is  no  wonder  they  are  unstable.  Now 
and  then  they  try  to  accomplish,  but  their  exer- 
tions soon  die  away  in  the  exclusive  care  of  their 
own  souls. 

The  most  fruitful  cause  of  instability,  and  the 
last  I  shall  mention  is,  impatience  of  fatigue  and 
weariness  of  labor.  This,  after  all,  is  the  source 
of  almost  all  the  inconstancy  in  Christian  practice. 


292        THE   FIRST  REBUKE   OF   A   DYING   FATHER 

Christians  are  willing  to  watch  and  labor  a  little 
while ;  but  are  not  willing  to  do  it  from  day  to 
day,  from  month  to  month,  and  from  year  to  year. 
It  costs  too  much  time,  too  much  care,  and  self- 
denial,  and  too  many  sacrifices.  They  are  willing 
to  take  their  part  in  Christian  labor ;  but  to  be 
always  employed,  and  ever  bearing  the  heat  and 
burden  of  the  day,  is  more  than  the  church  or  the 
world  has  the  right  to  look  for.  They  are  weary 
in  well-doing.  They  attend  to  their  duty  under 
the  incitement  of  favored  impulses ;  but  instead  of 
being  the  same  uniform,  steadfast  men,  are  engaged 
in  the  good  work  only  by  fits  and  starts.  They 
are  unstable  as  water. 

But  we  may  not  dismiss  the  general  topic  which 
has  called  forth  the  preceding  observations  without 
devoting  a  few  thoughts  to  the  consideration  of 
the  evils  of  this  instability.  The  patriarch  ex- 
pressed them  in  few  words :  "  Unstable  as  water, 
thou  shalt  not  excel." 

It  is  the  privilege  of  those  who  maintain  a  con- 
sistency and  uniformity  of  Christian  character,  to 
be  numbered  among  the  excellent  of  the  earth ; 
while  those  who  are  inconstant  and  unsteadfast, 
though  they  may  have  good  qualities,  excel  in 
nothing.  They  have  no  pre-eminence.  They  are 
neither  eminently  good,  happy,  nor  useful. 

They  are  not  eminently  good.  One  reason  why 
there  are  comparatively  so  few  examples  recorded 


THE  FIRST   REBUKE   OF   A   DYING   FATHER        293 

in  history  of  genuine  instability  of  character  is, 
that  men  of  vacillating  purpose  never  rise  to  suf- 
ficient eminence  to  find  a  place  on  the  pages  of 
history.  Those  there  are  who  figure  on  its  pages, 
that  are  distinguished  for  wickedness;  but  they 
are  men  of  strong  and  steady  purpose.  Those 
there  are  also  whose  names  are  recorded  by  his- 
torians on  account  of  the  eminence  of  their  sta- 
tions ;  men  of  hereditary  rather  than  real  great- 
ness ;  men  who  are  born  to  the  throne,  and  whose 
names  are  handed  down  to  us  as  princes  rather 
than  men.  Jolin,  of  England,  called  John  Lack- 
land, has  a  place  in  English  history,  because  he 
was  England's  king,  and  not  because  he  was  dis- 
tinguished for  his  kingly  virtues.  He  was  weak 
in  mind,  changeable  in  purpose,  and  distinguished 
for  his  fickleness  and  levity.  He  could  quarrel 
with  the  pope,  and  then  kneel  at  his  feet  and 
resign  his  crown  into  his  hands.  He  could  quar- 
rel with  the  barons,  and  then  give  them  the 
Magna  Charta.  He  could  enter  into  a  secret 
league  with  the  king  of  France  against  his  father 
Henry  II.,  and  then  quarrel  with  the  French 
king.  Christiana  of  Sweden  became  tired  of  the 
throne,  and  then  resigned  it ;  after  she  had  resigned 
it,  nothing  was  more  earnestly  sought  by  her  than 
the  resumption  of  her  crown.  She  publicly  ab- 
jured Protestantism,  and  became  a  Papist.  And 
at  last  she  quarrelled  with  the  pope,  and  then  on 


294        THE  FIRST  REBUKE  OF  A  DYING  FATHER. 

her  death-bed  received  absolution  from  his  pen. 
Characters  like  these  can  never  rise  to  eminence. 
We  may  say  of  them  as  the  historian  says  of 
Christiana,  "  Philosophy  is  in  their  mouth,  folly  in 
their  head,  and  pride  in  their  heart." 

Nor  is  it  otherwise  in  the  religious  world.  Good 
men  there  are  who  are  never  eminent,  because  they 
are  unstable.  Their  attainments  in  true  religion 
and  moral  virtue  are  all  of  the  lower  order.  It  is 
but  too  obvious  that  they  aspire  after  quite  dimin- 
ished measures  of  holiness.  They  are  not  like 
Paul,  "  forgetting  the  things  that  are  behind,  and 
pressing  onward  to  those  that  are  before ;"  but 
rather  like  the  fickle  Israelites,  or  the  changeful 
Samaritans,  who  "feared  the  Lord  and  served 
their  own  gods."  The  history  of  the  church  re- 
cords the  names  of  those  who  would  have  been 
eminent  for  goodness  but  for  their  unhappy  insta- 
bility of  character.  Archbishop  Cranmer  would 
have  been  one  of  the  noblest  men  of  his  age  had 
he  possessed  the  uniformity  and  firmness  which 
belongs  to  true  Christianity.  He  advocated  Hen- 
ry's divorce  from  his  lawful  queen,  with  the  view 
of  his  marriage  with  Anne  Boleyn,  and  then  for- 
mally pronounced  that  marriage  null  and  void. 
From  being  a  Catholic,  he  became  a  Protestant ; 
from  Protestantism,  he  went  back  to  the  faith  of 
Rome;  and  at  his  martyrdom  finally  renounced 
the  faith  of  Rome,  and  died  a  professed  Protestant. 


THE  FIRST   REBUKE  OF   A   DYING  FATHER.        295 

Every  part  of  man's  moral  character  is  affected 
by  this  equivocal  and  unstable  spirit.  The  per- 
fection of  goodness  consists  in  the  constant  and 
uniform  exercise  of  it;  and  the  farther  Chris- 
tians are  from  a  stability  in  the  practice  of  the 
Christian  virtues,  the  greater  remove  are  they 
from  true  excellence.  If  a  good  man  would  grow 
in  grace,  and  become  eminent  for  piety,  he  must 
be  above  the  reach  of  those  passing  winds  which 
change  the  course  of  less  decided  and  stable  men. 
He  may  not  be  a  man  of  changeful  emotions,  fickle 
purposes,  or  inconstant  and  doubtful  life.  I  say 
inconstant  and  doubtful  life,  because  no  means  are 
better  adapted  to  their  end,  than  an  unwearied, 
steadfast  attention  to  laborious  and  self-denying 
duties,  is  adapted  to  the  advancement  of  personal 
holiness.  Let  a  man  be  fickle  here,  and  he  will 
be  subject  to  great  mutability  and  vicissitude  of 
character.  He  will  be  like  Ephraim, —  "a  cake 
not  turned ;"  parts  of  his  character  will  be  defi- 
cient ;  he  will  be  sound  in  some  respects  and  un- 
sound in  others.  He  will  possess  little  of  the  vig- 
or, and  exhibit  little  of  the  finished  beauty  and 
excellence  of  true  religion.  He  will  very  easily  be 
led  away  by  the  error  of  the  wicked,  and  fall  from 
his  own  steadfastness.  He  will  scarcely  go  from 
strength  to  strength.  Even  should  his  path  toward 
Zion  be  on  the  whole  like  the  rising  light  which  shi- 
neth  more  and  more  unto  the  perfect  day,  it  will  be 


296        THE  FIRST   REBUKE   OF  A   DYING   FATHER. 

so  broken  with  clouds,  and  so  eclipsed  by  shadows, 
as  to  be  sometimes  dark  at  noon-day.  He  will 
live  and  die  with  little  piety ;  and  when  he  has 
finished  his  course,  instead  of  having  fought  a  good 
fight,  he  will  but  just  have  escaped  the  snare,  and 
delivered  his  own  soul. 

Persons  of  this  unstable  character  never  become 
eminently  happy.  They  are  happy,  only  as  they 
are  good,  occasionally  and  by  accident.  They  have 
no  solid,  permanent  source  of  enjoyment.  They 
are  tossed  about  in  their  hopes  and  comfort,  just 
as  they  are  in  their  feelings  and  practice.  Few 
Christians  have  greater  darkness,  more  doubts,  or 
deeper  depression  and  perplexity,  than  those  whose 
spiritual  comforts  are  enfeebled  by  the  instability 
of  their  purposes  and  conduct.  You  do  not  find 
men  who  partake  of  the  characteristic  firmness 
and  perseverance  of  the  Apostle  Paul,  involved  in 
darkness  and  gloom.  There  is  a  pleasure,  a  de- 
vout satisfaction  in  the  constancy  of  Christian  be- 
nevolence, and  patience  of  Christian  labor,  which 
are  unknown  to  men  of  the  opposite  spirit.  There 
is  something  in  the  steadiness  of  such  a  pursuit, 
which  raises  the  heart  to  familiar  intercourse 
with  things  unseen,  elevates  the  mind  above  the 
clouds  that  hang  over  the  multitudes  beneath, 
and  leads  the  soul  out  from  its  dark  caverns 
into  the  full  light  of  the  divine  countenance.  It 
is  this  mutability  of  Christian  deportment,  this  al- 


TELE  FIRST  REBUKE  OF  A  DYING  FATHER.        297 

ternate  labor  and  sloth,  this  excitement  and  wea- 
riness, this  sinning  and  repenting,  that  lays  the 
heart  open  to  such  painful  self-reproach ;  that  in- 
vites temptation  from  without  and  within;  that 
provokes  God  to  hide  his  face,  and  dooms  so  many 
to  fear  and  bondage.  Their  comforts  are  fluctu- 
ating— now  in  God  and  now  in  the  world,  ever 
ebbing  and  flowing  like  the  tide.  Such  a  man  is 
not  a  happy  Christian  while  he  lives,  nor  can  he  die 
as  it  is  the  privilege  of  a  Christian  to  die.  He 
has  no  settled  peace,  because  he  has  never  accus- 
tomed himself  to  rest  upon  anything.  He  vibrates 
between  hope  and  fear.  He  passes  away  in  dark- 
ness; and  cannot  say,  "Thy  rod  and  thy  staff, 
they  comfort  me."  If  it  is  true  that  men  generally 
die  as  they  have  lived,  who  would  be  an  unstable 
Christian  ? 

Persons  of  this  character  never  become  eminently 
useful.  They  may  do  good,  but  it  is  on  a  very 
moderate  scale.  Their  plans  of  usefulness  are  sel- 
dom enlarged ;  and  when  they  are,  they  have  not 
fixedness  of  purpose  enough  to  carry  them  into 
execution.  Men  who  to  any  great  extent  have 
denied  themselves,  and  have  been  actuated  by 
a  compassionate  love  for  mankind ;  who  have 
adorned  the  doctrine  of  God  their  Saviour ;  who 
have  shone  as  lights  in  the  world,  and  led  others 
to  glorify  their  Father  who  is  in  heaven ;  have  been 
men  of  great  uniformity  and  firmness.     How  can 

13* 


298        THE  FIRST  REBUKE  OF  A   DYING  FATHER. 

that  man  to  any  considerable  extent  consult  the 
great,  permanent,  eternal  interests  of  his  fellow- 
men,  who  thinks  of  a  life  of  self-renunciation  to- 
day, and  loses  sight  of  it  to-morrow  ? — who  is  all 
zeal  and  engagedness  at  this  moment,  and  all  apa- 
thy and  sluggishness  the  next?  No  matter  in 
what  department  of  Christian  duty  a  man  wishes 
to  be  useful,  an  inconstant  mind  will  spoil  all  his 
plans.  Such  a  man  very  soon  learns  that  he  can- 
not trust  himself,  and  is  therefore  afraid  to  enter 
with  resolution  into  any  purposes  of  enlarged  and 
patient  effort,  lest  he  should  not  hold  out  to  the 
end.  And  if  he  does  not  learn  to  distrust  him- 
self, his  fellow-Christians  soon  learn  to  withdraw 
their  confidence  from  him,  and  he  is  consigned  to 
fill  up  here  and  there  the  interstices  of  some  be- 
nevolent enterprise,  rather  than  be  prominent  in 
achievements  that  bless  mankind. 

History  furnishes  us  with  many  noble  examples 
of  the  stability  of  Christian  character,  which  time 
would  fail  me  to  enumerate.  There  are  few  finer 
examples  in  our  own  days,  than  are  presented  by 
the  patient  and  indefatigable  firmness  of  not  a  few 
devoted  missionaries  of  the  cross,  who,  while  so 
many  have  retired  from  the  field  because  they  did 
not  count  the  cost  of  entering  it,  have  persevered 
in  their  work  of  faith  and  labor  of  love,  who  have 
grown  gray  in  the  self-denying  service,  and  whose 
"  hoary  head  is  a  crown  of  glory,"  because  still 


THE  FIRST   REBUKE   OF   A   DYING   FATHER.        299 

found  in  the  way  of  righteousness.  We  need  such 
men  at  home  and  abroad.  They  need  not  be  men 
of  the  most  commanding  talent ;  but  they  should 
be  men  of  patient  toil  and  invincible  firmness. 
They  should  be  men  who  live  not  for  themselves, 
but  for  Christ  and  his  church.  They  should  be 
men,  not  of"  one  idea,"  but  of  one  supreme  object ; 
men  whose  enterprise  may  supply  the  place  of  su- 
perior genius,  and  whose  strong  common  sense  and 
devoted  piety  render  them  eminently  useful.  Their 
very  goodness  and  stability  will  give  them  talent 
and  attainments,  and  teach  them  to  employ  them 
to  the  best  advantage.  We  need  ministers,  and 
ruling  elders,  and  members  in  the  church  of  God, 
who  will  be  to  her  what  Gustavus  Adolphus  was 
to  Sweden,  and  what  Washington  was  to  his 
country.  We  need  men  whose  stability  is  moved 
by  no  scenes  of  trial,  whose  views  may  be  counted 
on  amid  all  the  vacillations  of  public  opinion, 
whose  deeds  of  love  and  mercy,  and  whose 
achievements  of  Christian  valor  and  disinterested 
zeal  shall  show,  that  whoever  may  be  against  them, 
God  is  for  them ;  men  whose  firmness  is  more  im- 
penetrable than  the  shield  of  Ajax,  and  whom  a 
greater  than  Hercules  wrapped  in  the  skin  of  the 
Nemean  lion. 

We  have  seen  enough  of  unstable  Christians  and 
unstable  ministers.  If  they  have  a  momentary  in- 
fluence, it  is  only  to  keep  the  church  in  tumult 


300        THE  FIRST  REBUKE  OF  A  DYING  FATHER. 

and  the  world  in  gazing  agitation.  Their  course  is 
like  the  comet's  path,  vivid  and  brilliant  for  the 
moment,  but  leaving  no  bright  track  behind  them. 
Such  men  are  the  mere  appendages  to  every  thing 
that  warms  the  hearts,  enlivens  the  hopes,  and 
saves  the  souls  of  men.  They  exert  very  little  in- 
fluence on  their  own  generation,  or  any  that  comes 
after  them. 

What  then  is  the  remedy  for  this  unhappy  trait 
of  character  ?  On  this  part  of  the  subject  we  will 
suggest  the  following  considerations. 

If  you  would  guard  against  instability  in  reli- 
gion, see  tliat  you  are  Christians.  Men  will  have 
very  little  constancy  and  firmness  in  practice,  unless 
they  are  "  rooted  and  grounded  in  love."  If  they 
are  habitually  embarrassed  and  doubtful  of  the 
genuineness  of  their  own  religion,  they  will  be 
versatile  and  unsettled  in  their  plans  of  usefulness 
and  duty.  They  will  have  very  little  heart  for 
steadfastness  in  labor,  unless  their  purposes  origi- 
nate from  holy  love,  and  their  measures  are  sug- 
gested and  fortified  by  motives  that  are  pure  and 
disinterested.  If  a  man's  heart  is  right  with  God, 
the  objects  of  his  pursuit  will  be  such  as  deserve 
and  demand  unwearied  thought,  and  such  as  will 
be  apt  to  inspire  fixedness  of  purpose.  If  he  him- 
self has  good  evidence  that  it  is  right,  he  will  spend 
and  be  spent  with  a  satisfaction  that  gives  energy 
and  stability  to  all  that  he  performs.     Nothing 


THE  FIRST  REBUKE  OF  A  DYING  FATHER.        301 

tends  more  to  unman  our  courage,  to  take  away 
our  resolution  and  strength,  than  perpetual  doubts 
about  our  personal  religion.  It  is  this  which 
makes  so  many  feel  their  unfitness  for  every  duty, 
and  renders  so  many  mere  cyphers  in  the  church 
of  God. 

Be  established  also  in  your  religious  principles. 
As  religious  knowledge  is  the  great  auxiliary  to 
advancement  in  holiness,  so  established  principles 
are  the  great  means  of  firmness  in  Christian  duty. 
Let  a  man  be  unsettled  in  his  religious  opinions, 
and  unless  there  is  some  powerfully  counteracting 
cause,  he  will  be  proportionably  unstable  in  his 
plans  of  duty  and  usefulness.  The  strength  of  his 
determination,  and  the  vigor  of  his  conduct,  are  in 
a  great  measure  proportioned  to  the  extent  and 
certainty  of  his  religious  knowledge.  Ignorance 
of  the  great  doctrines  of  religion,  and  uncertainty 
as  to  the  truth  and  importance  of  them,  is  but 
poorly  calculated  to  present  or  to  enforce  the  more 
powerful  obligations,  as  well  as  the  more  resistless 
inducements  to  uniformity  and  perseverance. 

Aim  also  at  great  achievements.  "  Expect  great 
things ;  attempt  great  things."  It  is  in  the  attain- 
ments of  the  Christian  character,  as  it  is  in  every- 
thing else ;  men  seldom  advance  beyond  their  ex- 
pectations. They  may  not  indeed  arrive  at  the  point 
at  which  they  aim,  but  they  will  always  rise  higher 
than  they  would  have  done  if  they  had  projected  a 


302        THE   FIRST   REBUKE   OF   A   DYING   FATHER. 

feel)ler  or  lower  purpose.  It  depends  very  much 
upon  a  man's  own  expectations  and  efforts  whether 
he  accomplishes  little  or  much  for  the  kingdom  of 
Christ.  Expectation  animates  effort ;  apprehension 
paralyzes  it.  A  man's  exertions  and  prayers  almost 
always  correspond  with  his  expectations  ;  so  that 
if  his  expectations  are  high,  they  will  buoy  up  his 
mind  and  keep  it  steady  at  its  purpose  ;  but  if  his 
expectations  are  low,  they  will  only  depress  his 
mind,  but  shake,  if  not  annihilate,  his  best  pur- 
poses. 

If  you  would  guard  against  instability  in  reli- 
gion, forget  not  to  count  the  cost.  Nothing  of  great 
moment  can  be  accomplished  without  unshaken 
resolution.  No  Christian  ever  consecrated  the 
prime  of  youth,  the  vigor  of  manhood,  and  the 
experience  of  age,  to  the  noble  purpose  of  glori- 
fying his  Redeemer  without  an  inviolable  purpose. 
There  must  be  a  fixed  and  steady  attention  to 
this  great  object.  A  slight  and  cursory  view  of  our 
duty,  a  purpose  that  alters  with  every  change  of 
feeling  or  circumstances,  is  the  very  evil  to  be  cor- 
rected. Nor  can  much  be  done  toward  remedying 
this  instability  without  patient  labor ;  because  the 
great  objects  of  Christian  benevolence  must  be 
prosecuted  with  unabated  exertion.  Nor  can 
much  be  done  without  some  degree  of  ardor  and 
zeal.  Christian  stability  arises  from  a  strong, 
steady,  uniform,  benevolent  principle,  uniting  and 


THE  FIRST   REBUKE   OF   A   DYING   FATHER.        303 

harmonizing  everything  in  the  pursuit  of  its  ob- 
ject. If  a  man,  therefore,  would  not  be  unstable, 
let  him  make  up  his  mind  to  a  life  of  steadfastness 
and  toil.  Let  him  lay  his  account  with  self-de- 
nial and  difficulty.  Let  him  come  to  his  work  de- 
sirous to  spend  and  be  spent  in  the  service  of  his 
Lord  and  Master.  Let  his  duty  take  entire  pos- 
session of  his  soul,  to  the  renunciation  of  every- 
thing that  is  inconsistent  with  his  purpose,  or  un- 
worthy of  his  high  pursuit.  Let  his  duty  be  the 
paramount,  the  absorbing  consideration ;  and  let 
it  have  weight  and  influence  enough  to  awaken 
and  invigorate  all  his  powers  and  stimulate  him  to 
patient  and  persevering  exertion. 

And  more  than  all,  have  strong  confidence  in 
God.  This  is  the  all-inspiring,  all-conquering  sen- 
timent. A  man  can  hardly  be  surprised  into  any 
great  and  sudden  changes ;  he  will  with  difficulty 
turn  his  attention  to  trifles,  and  reluctantly  suffer  his 
thoughts  to  be  led  away  by  vain  and  imaginary 
schemes  to  the  neglect  of  any  great  design  he  has 
begun  to  prosecute,  who  is  strong  in  the  Lord,  and 
in  the  power  of  his  might.  Our  duty  to  God  be- 
comes the  main  business  of  life,  and  our  devotion 
to  his  glory  the  continual  source  of  enjoyment,  so 
long  as  confidence  in  him  remains  the  great  incen- 
tive to  exertion.  No  person  will  persevere  in  ac- 
tive usefulness  without  a  proper  feeling  of  his  de- 
pendence.    With  an  exclusive  reliance  on  himself, 


304        THE  FIRST  REBUKE  OF  A  DYING  FATHER. 

his  expectations  must  be  narrow  and  his  exertions 
enfeebled.  But  with  humble  confidence  on  the 
God  of  all  grace  and  wisdom,  as  the  source  of  all 
his  strength  and  the  author  of  all  his  success,  he 
can  attempt ;  he  can  execute.  If  he  has  no  well- 
grounded  confidence  in  God,  he  will  first  waver, 
then  relax  his  endeavors,  then  abandon  them. 
Nothing  tends  so  powerfully  to  strengthen  and 
refresh  the  heart  as  the  thought,  "I  can  do  all 
things  through  Christ  strengthening  me."  No- 
where is  to  be  found  so  ready,  or  so  effectual  a 
preservative  against  discouragement  and  dejection. 
Nowhere  is  there  a  sentiment  which  can  influence 
a  good  man  to  move  forward  with  a  firmer  step,  to 
encounter  opposition,  neglect  or  reproach  with  a 
bolder  and  more  collected  aspect,  or  to  meet  sue* 
cess  with  an  humbler  or  more  grateful  mind. 

I  will  only  add  to  these  suggestions,  if  you 
would  guard  against  instability  in  religion,  'preserve 
a  deep  sense  of  your  obligations.  Every  man  is 
bound  to  steadfastness  in  the  practice  of  holiness ; 
much  more,  every  Christian  man.  The  same  con- 
siderations which  urge  to  duty  at  one  time,  urge  to 
it  at  another,  and  without  cessation  and  without 
end. 

And  what  are  these  considerations  ?  They  are 
the  commandment  of  the  everlasting  God,  en- 
forcing his  reasonable  claims  upon  his  creature 
with  a  mighty  persuasion  and  a  resistless  energy. 


THE  FIRST  REBUKE  OF   A   DYING  FATHER.        305 

They  are  the  love  of  Jesus  Christ,  superadding  to 
the  influence  of  moral  obligation  all  the  constraints 
of  redeeming  mercy. 

They  are  the  undeserved  interposition  of  the 
Holy  Spirit,  quickening  the  soul  from  its  death  of 
trespasses  and  sins — redeeming  it  from  the  thral- 
dom of  Satan  and  the  world — giving  it  the  adop- 
tion of  sons — conducting  it  in  a  course  in  which  it 
is  destined  soon  to  bid  a  final  adieu  to  guilt  and 
wretchedness,  and  enter  upon  its  everlasting  pro- 
gress in  felicity  and  glory. 

They  are  the  most  memorable  and  solemn  en- 
gagements by  which  every  professed  disciple  re- 
cognized his  allegiance  to  the  King  of  kings ;  by 
which  he  pledged  his  fidelity  and  obedience ;  by 
which  he  called  heaven  and  earth  to  record  that 
he  would  devote  all  that  he  is,  or  possesses,  to  the 
honor  of  God ;  and  by  which  he  made  a  free-will 
offering  of  his  time,  his  talents,  his  influence,  his 
learning,  his  skill,  his  labor,  his  property,  his 
prayers,  his  life,  to  that  cause  for  which  his  Re- 
deemer suffered  and  died. 

They  are  the  interests  of  that  Redeemer's  king- 
dom on  earth — the  good  he  may  accomplish  and 
the  evil  he  may  prevent — the  dearest  interests 
which  are  identified  with  the  existence  of  immortal 
men — the  prosperity  of  the  church  and  the  salva- 
tion of  the  soul. 

These  are  the  obligations  which  bind  the  people 


306        THE  FIRST  REBUKE  OF  A  DYING  FATHER 

of  God  to  unvarying  constancy  in  the  practice  of 
godliness  and  the  promotion  of  the  highest  good. 
And  how  can  they  be  remembered,  how  can  they 
have  any  weight  and  influence  without  discour- 
aging the  spirit  of  irresoluteness  and  versatility, 
and  without  inspiriting  and  invigorating  the  first 
and  strongest  emotions  of  the  soul,  and  producing 
habits  of  action  and  usefulness  as  permanent  as 
the  power  of  exertion,  as  elevated  as  the  object 
by  which  they  are  excited  ? 

If  we  mistake  not,  instability  in  religion  is  one 
of  the  characteristics  of  many  a  good  man.  Per- 
haps it  is  an  error,  that  ought  to  be  thought  of 
by  some  of  my  readers.  I  would  by  no  means  ex- 
clude myself  from  the  weight  of  this  reproach, 
and  I  hope  it  may  be  felt  by  others.  Does 
not  God  address  us  as  he  did  Ephraim  of  old, — 
"  O  Ephraim,  what  shall  I  do  unto  thee ;  for  thy 
goodness  is  as  the  early  cloud,  and  the  morning 
dew,  which  quickly  passeth  away  !"  It  is  not  an 
uncommon  thing  for  Christians  to  possess  strong 
and  ardent  affections  ;  but  too  often  their  religion 
almost  evaporates  in  mere  ardor  and  sensibility. 
It  wants  a  steady  and  fixed  attention  to  the  great  ob- 
ject of  Christian  benevolence ;  and  a  constancy  and 
energy  which  shall  give  it  effect  in  the  promotion 
of  the  cause  of  godliness.  If  any  are  thus  un- 
stable, all  they  have  to  do  is  to  repent  and  reform. 
Your  own  religion,  your  own  peace  and  comfort, 


THE  FIRST  REBUKE  OF  A  DYING  FATHER.        307 

your  usefulness  in  the  world,  the  honor  of  God 
your  Saviour,  call  upon  you,  in  heart  and  in  life, 
to  be  strong  in  the  grace  that  is  in  Christ  Jesus. 

I  hope  I  shall  be  pardoned  if  I  say,  I  am  par- 
ticularly anxious  that  the  leading  thoughts  of  this 
lecture  should  be  remembered,  especially  by  the 
young.  You,  my  young  friends,  who  have  been 
recently  brought  into  the  school  of  Christ,  and 
are  now  forming  your  habits  as  Christians,  are 
entering  upon  a  course  in  which  you  will  probably 
travel  on  as  long  as  you  live.  You  have  been 
eminently  the  objects  of  the  divine  favor;  and  the 
kind  of  religion  you  possess,  the  sort  of  character 
you  form,  the  stability  or  instability  of  your  prac- 
tice, little  as  you  may  think  of  it,  is  yet  to  have  a 
powerful  influence  on  the  church  and  the  world.  I 
would  not  have  you  aim  to  be  great ;  but  I  would 
have  you  aim  to  be  good.  I  would  not  have  you 
aim  at  personal  distinction,  unless  it  be  the  emi- 
nence of  humble,  devoted,  consistent  piety.  It  is 
no  impeachment  of  Christian  modesty  and  humil- 
ity to  aspire  after  no  common  degree  of  usefulness. 
Eagerly  as  the  men  of  the  world,  each  in  his  dif- 
ferent department,  pants  after  wealth,  influence, 
and  fame,  urged  forward  by  raised  expectations, 
and  the  prospect  of  ever-growing  greatness,  may 
you  pant  after  greater  constancy  and  uniformity 
of  grace,  and  a  life  of  invincible  self-denial,  and 
elevated  virtue  and  usefulness.     It  is  no  difficult 


308        THE   FIRST   REBUKE   OF   A   DYING   FATHER. 

matter  for  you  to  hide  your  talent  in  the  earth, 
to  be  indolent,  fearful,  and  effeminate ;  to  forget 
the  high  obligations  of  your  profession,  lose  sight 
of  the  importance  and  greatness  of  the  cause  to 
which  you  are  allied  ;  and  it  is  also  easy  to  think, 
and  feel,  and  act  as  those  who  must  give  an  ac- 
count of  their  stewardship,  and  by  your  exemplary 
piety,  your  importunate  prayers,  your  strenuous 
exertions,  your  resolute  perseverance  in  doing 
good,  exhibit  to  the  world  the  reality  and  beauty 
of  religion,  as  well  as  evince  that  in  you  it  has  found 
no  timid,  wavering  advocate.  Venture,  my  young 
friends,  to  think  of  being  useful  in  the  world.  Set 
your  mark  high.  Count  the  cost  of  your  purpose ; 
estimate  the  value  of  a  devoted  life ;  appreciate 
the  blessings  and  honor  of  being  co-workers  with 
your  God  and  Saviour,  and  the  happiness,  the 
glory  of  that  hour,  when,  unworthy  as  you  are,  it 
shall  be  said  to  you,  "  Well  done,  good  and  faith- 
ful servant,  thou  hast  been  faithful  over  a  few 
things,  I  will  make  thee  ruler  over  many  things ; 
enter  thou  into  the  joy  of  thy  Lord." 


CHAPTER    XXV. 

$|i  fitf\  EBhllinn  in  \\t  Irhnm 
^DmrannmBaltlj. 

Events  often  occur  which  make  it  the  duty  of 
the  ministry  of  reconciliation  to  extend  its  instruc- 
tions beyond  the  ordinary  limits  of  Christian  truth. 
There  are  great  principles  which  lie  at  the  basis 
of  good  government,  and  are  so  intimately  inwov- 
en with  the  best  interests  of  the  state,  that  they 
are  the  common  inheritance  of  every  citizen,  and 
are  in  the  keeping  of  every  friend  to  his  country. 
They  are  so  inseparably  allied  to  great  religious 
and  moral  principles,  that  the  pulpit  has  no  right 
to  stand  aloof  from  them,  and  leave  them  to  be 
defended  only  by  statesmen,  and  upon  principles 
of  equity  and  expediency.  To  weigh  them  in  a 
higher  balance,  to  bring  them  to  the  ordeal  which 
scrutinizes  the  relations  of  man  to  his  Maker,  can- 
not be  considered  as  lying  out  of  the  sphere  of 
Christianity. 

In  the  following  observations  we  shall  make  no 


310  THE  FIRST   REBELLION 

ultimate  appeal,  but  to  the  word  of  God ;  and  if 
our  remarks  are  submitted  with  freedom  and  firm- 
ness, it  will  be  because  we  may  appeal  to  such  a 
standard,  and  because  such  is  the  state  of  our  pub- 
lic affairs,  that  there  is  a  special  call  in  the  provi- 
dence of  God  for  the  ministers  of  religion  to  "  mag- 
nify their  office"  by  magnifying  the  supremacy  of 
the  laws. 

There  have  been  few  such  rulers  as  the  great 
Jewish  lawgiver ;  few  such  philosophers,  few  such 
patriots,  few  such  men.  Though  not  faultless,  his 
character  is  the  most  pure  and  immaculate  ever 
drawn,  either  by  profane  or  sacred  historians. 
Yet  was  there  nothing  in  his  acknowledged  integ- 
rity and  heroism,  nor  in  his  well-known  devotement 
to  the  best  interests  of  the  people  of  which  he  was 
the  leader — nothing  in  his  divine  legation,  which 
shielded  Mm  from  the  slanderous  imputation  of 
arrogance  and  the  love  of  power,  or  the  govern- 
ment he  so  wisely  administered  from  mutiny  and 
rebellion.  At  the  head  of  these  restless  and  sedi- 
tious spirits  were  Korah,  Datha?i,  and  Abirarn ; 
the  most  distinguished  and  turbulent  of  them, 
strange  to  say,  belonging  to  the  "  house  of  Levi." 
They  were  competitors  for  power  with  Moses  and 
Aaron ;  they  aimed  to  excite  a  popular  tumult ; 
they  formed  a  regular  conspiracy,  which  threat- 
ened to  overturn  the  whole  system,  civil  and  re- 
ligious, which  God  had  established  among  them ; 


IN  THE  HEBREW  COMMONWEALTH.      311 

a  conspiracy  which  aspired  after  lawless  indepen- 
dence, and  which  was  prepared  to  trample  all  law 
and  order  under  their  feet.  Their  sagacious  prince 
saw,  at  a  glance,  the  dark  cloud  that  overshadowed 
the  nation,  and  it  affected  him  to  solicitude,  to  hu- 
miliation, to  prayer.  He  foresaw  that  the  conse- 
quences might  be  disastrous,  portending  evil  to 
the  commonwealth  of  Israel;  and  he  "fell  upon 
his  face"  before  God,  to  deprecate  his  wrath,  and 
seek  his  direction  in  this  new  and  unexpected  cri- 
sis of  his  country's  history. 

Such  is  the  position  of  these  American  states  at 
the  present  crisis.  In  the  midst  of  prosperity  such 
as  is  enjoyed  by  few,  if  any  nations  on  the  face  of 
the  earth,  and  with  prospects  such  as  never  yet 
dawned  even  upon  our  own  favored  land ;  we  are 
at  the  same  time  in  the  midst  of  those  agitating 
scenes  by  which  republics  have  been  so  often  be- 
guiled, misled,  and  betrayed  into  dissensions  which 
were  premonitory  of  their  ruin.  Our  single  ob- 
ject in  the  present  chapter,  is  to  pursue  a  course 
which  may  have  the  greatest  tendency  to  make 
us  familiar  with  our  high  duties  as  citizens ;  which 
may  teach  us  to  set  a  high  value  upon  our  in- 
stitutions, and  lead  us  to  hand  down  to  those 
who  come  after  us  a  firm  and  compact  govern- 
ment, wisely  dispensed,  not  over  a  disunited,  but 
a  united  people. 

That  we  may  lay  the  basis  of  our  conclusions  as 


312  •       THE   FIRST   REBELLION 

deep  and  broad  as  those  conclusions  themselves, 
our  first  object  shall  be  to  advert  to  the  gene- 
ral PRINCIPLES  OF  CIVIL  GOVERNMENT  AS  THEY  ARE 
REVEALED  IN  THE  SACRED  WRITINGS. 

It  would  be  not  a  little  remarkable,  if  that  God, 
who  is  the  governor  among  the  nations,  had  given 
no  instructions  in  his  word,  in  relation  to  the  gov- 
ernment of  the  nations  themselves.  Hence  we 
find  the  Scriptures  both  of  the  Old  and  New  Tes- 
taments by  no  means  barren  of  instruction  on  this 
important  article  of  human  duty. 

The  first  great  truth  which  strikes  us  on  opening 
the  sacred  volume,  in  relation  to  civil  government 
is,  that  it  is  an  institution  which  God  approves,  and 
of  his  own  appointment.  Look  where  we  will  over 
his  vast  universe,  we  see  one  class  of  existences  sub- 
ordinated to  another  class.  Heaven  itself  is  a  gov- 
erned community.  Intelligences  are  there  that  are 
superior  to  other  intelligences  ;  some  angelic  minds 
that  are  superior  to  other  angelic  minds  ;  "  one  star 
differing  from  another  star  in  glory."  There  are 
"  thrones  and  dominions,"  cherubim  and  seraphim, 
while  one  Lord  God  omnipotent  rules  over  them 
all.  The  different  physical  and  intellectual  en- 
dowments of  the  human  race,  as  well  as  their  di- 
verse condition  in  the  world,  all  which  are  by  the 
ordering  of  his  wise  providence,  indicate  that  he 
designed  them  for  a  state  of  subordination.  In  a 
world  like  our  own,  fallen  by  its  iniquity,  and 


IX  THE  HEBREW  COMMONWEALTH.      313 

where  evil  passions  in  every  form  are  the  ruling 
impulses  of  the  human  heart,  government  is  essen- 
tial to  man's  existence  ;  perfect  anarchy  would  in 
a  short  time  depopulate  the  earth. 

The  fact  that  the  state  of  man  everywhere  is  a 
state  of  subordination,  speaks  volumes  in  favor  of 
the  truth  that  his  Maker  designed  him  for  such  a 
state.  The  idea  of  subordination  seems  to  be  a 
sort  of  human  instinct.  The  reason  why  the  many 
are  so  easily  governed  by  the  few,  is,  that  the  ne- 
cessity of  government  has  so  deep  a  lodgment  in 
the  human  mind.  For  the  most  part,  the  superior 
power  is  on  the  side  of  the  governed ;  the  strong- 
est hold  which  rulers  have  of  their  subjects  is  their 
own  sense  of  the  absolute  necessity  of  government. 
It  is  this  which  gives  power  to  law  ;  and  but  for 
this,  the  many  would  be  the  governors,  and  the 
few  the  governed. 

The  only  civil  government  of  which  the  Scrip- 
tures give  any  account,  was  organized  by  God 
himself.  They  ascribe  the  civil  institutions  of  the 
Hebrew  State  to  the  same  divine  Author,  with  its 
system  of  religion.  Its  basis  was  a  true  and  prop- 
er theocracy;  God  himself  was  their  immediate 
sovereign,  and  they  his  subjects ;  so  that  idolatry 
was  a  capital  offence,  and  treason  against  the  state. 

Nowhere  do  we  learn  the  qualifications  of  civil 
rulers,  or  the  duties  of  their  subjects,  as  we  learn 
them  from  the  Bible;  nor  should  we  find  these 

VOL.  II. — 14 


314  THE   FIRST  REBELLION 

instructions  there,  if  civil  government  were  not 
approved  of  God.  The  doctrine  of  the  New  Tes- 
tament is,  that  "  there  is  no  power  but  of  God ;" 
that  "  the  powers  that  be  are  ordained  of  God ;" 
and  that* human  government  is  "  the  ordinance  of 
God."  God  announces  in  his  word,  "  By  me  kings 
reign  and  princes  decree  justice."  All  government, 
in  all  the  varied  social  relations,  rests  upon  the 
same  basis ;  it  is  of  divine  right.  If  this  principle 
is  denied,  there  is  no  such  thing  as  lawful  govern- 
ment in  the  world. 

It  is  altogether  a  mistaken,  unscriptural,  and 
mischievous  notion,  that  civil  government  has  its 
origin  in  nothing  higher  than  human  compact. 
The  particular  form  of  government  is  of  men ;  it 
is  at  the  option  of  men,  and  the  result  of  conven- 
tional arrangement  and  social  compact;  while 
government  is  of  God.  It  is  a  divine  institution ; 
God  is  its  author ;  that  it  should  exist  is  not  mere- 
ly the  decision  of  his  providence,  but  his  com- 
manded will.  A  sheriff,  no  less  than  a  king,  acts 
by  a  divine  commission. 

The  next  truth  which  the  Scriptures  reveal  on 
this  subject,  instructs  us  what  it  is  that  constitutes 
civil  government.  What  this  is,  is  a  vexed  ques- 
tion, and  one  to  which  philosophical  and  ethical 
writers  have  given  very  different  answers ;  but  to 
which  the  Bible  invariably  gives  but  one.  The 
Scriptures  inculcate  the  doctrine,  that  that  which 


IN  THE  HEBREW  COMMONWEALTH.      315 

constitutes  the  government  is  the  government 
which  is  in  actual  possession  of  the  civil  author- 
ity ;  "  the  powers  that  be."  They  may  come  into 
power  by  the  election  of  the  people,  by  hereditary 
right,  by  ancient  usage,  by  statute,  by  the  nomina- 
tion of  their  predecessors,  by  last  will  and  testa- 
ment, or  even  by  conquest  and  usurpation ;  but  so 
long  as  they  are  thejpowers  that  be,  they  constitute 
the  divinely  authorized  government.  The  author- 
ity of  the  government  is  decided  by  the  Scrip- 
tures ;  what  the  government  is,  is  decided  by  provi- 
dence. It  is  no  proof  that  the  Scriptures  justify 
fraud  and  usurpation,  because  they  give  authority 
to  the  usurper  and  deceiver.  The  reigning  prince 
may  have  adopted  the  most  unwarrantable  means 
for  coming  into  power;  but  when  the  power  is 
once  confirmed  and  established  in  his  hands, 
whether  the  people  have  been  constrained  to  ac- 
knowledge his  supremacy  by  circumvention  on  his 
part,  or  bad  policy  on  their  own ;  by  his  force,  or 
their  disunion  and  effeminacy ;  the  government  he 
exercises  is  the  real  government.  Men  are  born 
under  allegiance  to  their  existing  rulers,  as  truly 
as  they  are  born  under  the  bonds  of  reverence 
and  duty  to  their  parents. 

Nor  is  it  difficult  to  perceive  that  the  only  safe 
principle  for  a  conscientious  man  to  adopt  in  order 
to  acknowledge  the  supremacy  of  the  laws,  is  that 
they  are  the  laws   of  the   existing  government. 


316  THE  FIRST  REBELLION 

The  perplexity  would  be  endless,  if,  in  order  to 
secure  his  allegiance,  he  must  institute  and  decide 
the  inquiry,  who  possesses,  dejare,  the  civil  power. 
The  fact  is,  that  almost  all  the  governments  that 
now  exist,  or  of  which  there  remains  any  records 
in  history,  were  originally  founded  in  usurpation 
or  conquest.  There  never  was  in  any  one  family, 
any  long,  regular  succession  in  the  Roman  empire ; 
their  line  of  princes  was  continually  broken,  either 
by  private  assassinations,  or  public  rebellions. 
The  Pretorian  guards,  on  the  death  of  one  em- 
peror, set  up  another ;  the  legions  in  the  East  a 
second ;  those  in  Germany  a  third  ;  and  the  sword 
alone  could  decide  the  contest.  John  the  Baptist 
recognized  the  authority  of  an  usurper,  when  he 
said  to  the  soldiers  of  Augustus,  "  Do  violence  to 
no  man,  neither  accuse  any  falsely,  and  be  content 
with  your  wages."  The  Saviour  recognized  the 
authority  of  an  usurper,  when  he  said  of  the  tribute 
money  of  Tiberius,  "  Render  unto  Csesar  the  things 
that  are  Caesar's."  William  the  Norman  came  to 
the  throne  of  England  by  violence  and  usurpa- 
tion ;  yet  the  existing  government  was  the  author- 
ized government.  The  house  of  Lancaster  gov- 
erned England  for  sixty  years,  and  was  expelled 
by  the  house  of  York  ;  both  were  usurpers  ;  while 
both  the  red  rose  and  the  white  were  the  badges 
of  power,  so  long  as  their  supremacy  was  recognized. 
Usurpers  also  have  often  made  the  best  of  rulers ; 


IN  THE  HEBREW  COMMONWEALTH.  31? 

far  better  than  many  whose  thrones  they  usurped. 
Augustus  Caesar  came  to  the  throne  by  violence ; 
yet  because  the  Roman  dominion  had  become  too 
unwieldy  to  be  controlled  by  the  republic,  it  was 
a  blessing  to  Rome  that,  with  all  his  faults,  he 
came  to  the  throne.  Perhaps  there  never  was  a 
greater  usurper  than  Oliver  Cromwell ;  yet  Eng- 
land was  never  better  governed,  and  never  more 
respected  abroad,  than  during  the  Commonwealth. 
"  Promotion  cometh  neither  from  the  north,  nor 
from  the  south,  nor  from  the  west ;  but  God  is 
the  judge,  he  setteth  up  one,  and  putteth  down 
another."  God  speaks  to  the  people  in  his  provi- 
dence, when  he  thus  sets  kings  upon  their  thrones ; 
and  his  voice  thus  uttered  is  made  law  by  the 
Bible.  Even  where  usurpers  are  the  worst  of 
men  and  the  worst  of  kings,  they  are  God's  minis- 
ters ;  and  not  until  a  nation  reaches  the  point 
which  calls  for  revolution  and  the  overthrow  of 
the  existing  government,  may  they  practically  call 
in  question  its  supremacy. 

Another  truth,  equally  obvious  from  the  Bible 
is,  that  civil  government  is  instituted  for  the  good 
of  the  people.  The  proper  sphere  and  appropriate 
business  of  civil  government  are  the  civil  and 
social  relations  of  men.  Its  benevolent  objects 
are  secured  by  such  a  policy  as  tends  to  increase 
the  population,  promote  the  wealth,  the  knowledge, 
the  moral  virtue,  the  internal  enterprise  and  ex- 


318  THE   FIRST   REBELLION 

ternal  influence  and  honor  of  the  governed,  and  in 
every  way  secure  their  temporal  rights,  quie- 
tude and  welfare.  It  secures  its  objects  just  in  the 
measure  in  which  it  makes  obedience  to  the  laws, 
the  highest  interest  of  the  subject.  In  other  and 
better  language,  it  is  "  a  terror  to  evil-doers,  and 
a  praise  to  them  that  do  well."  Rulers  are  "  min- 
isters of  God"  for  this  end,  and  are  appointed  for 
"  this  very  thing."  Their  legitimate  object  is,  not 
to  seek  their  own  advantage,  but  the  general  wel- 
fare of  the  people.  Sains  populi,  suprema  lex. 
Civil  society  is  composed  of  so  many  distinct  parts, 
and  combines  so  many  local,  and  often  conflicting 
interests,  that  it  requires  great  wisdom  and  impar- 
tiality, and  not  unfrequently  makes  exacting  de- 
mands upon  the  spirit  of  mutual  concession  and 
compromise,  so  to  consult,  compare,  and  combine 
these  interests,  as  to  produce  the  highest  good  of 
the  whole.  The  doctrine,  of  which  we  hear  not  a 
little  in  our  day,  that  government  may  legislate  for 
a  part,  and  not  for  the  whole,  is  not  the  doctrine 
of  the  Bible.  Its  whole  spirit  and  the  entire  system 
of  truth  it  reveals  is  a  standing  rebuke  to  this  polit- 
ical error.  The  basis  of  all  legislation  by  general 
laws  admits  of  partial  evil  for  the  general  good ; 
and  this  is  the  only  practical  legislation. 

In  wise  governments,  the  civil  power  is  so  em- 
ployed as  to  promote  the  objects  of  government ; 
its  laws  are  fit,  and  suited  to  wise  ends,  and  are 


LN  THE   HEBREW   COMMONWEALTH  319 

proper  under  the  circumstances.  They  are  the  secu- 
rity of  honest  men ;  they  guarantee  property,  peace, 
life;  and  are  like  "a  city  which  hath  gates  and 
bars."  That  is  more  than  a  doubtful  patriotism 
which  loses  sight  of  the  general  good  as  its  ulti- 
mate object,  and  only  seeks  it  so  far  as  it  will  have 
a  favorable  aspect  upon  local,  partial,  or  individual 
interests.  Every  lover  of  his  country  will  seek 
the  general  good  in  preference  to  his  own,  and 
when  the  occasion  demands  it,  at  the  sacrifice  of 
his  own  partialities.  It  may  be  a  difficult  task  to 
administer  civil  government  upon  this  high  and 
disinterested  principle ;  it  is  certainly  no  enviable 
task ;  for  it  has  very  little  else  than  virtue's  own 
reward,  and  little  other  gratification  than  the  in- 
dulgence, and  expression,  and  results  of  a  self-sac- 
rificing spirit.  There  have  been  such  rulers.  Such 
was  Moses ;  such  was  David ;  such  was  Sweden's 
pride,  Gustavus  Adolphus ;  and  such  was  Ameri- 
ca's glory  when  her  stripes  and  stars  wafted  far 
the  fame  of  Washington.  Such  men  and  such 
governments  are  beautiful  objects  to  look  upon, 
and  worthy  to  be  remembered.  Bad  as  the  world 
is,  it  loves  to  cherish  such  sacred  memories.  "  They 
are  as  the  light  of  morning  when  the  sun  riseth, 
even  a  morning  without  clouds;  as  the  tender 
grass  springing  out  of  the  earth  by  clear  shining 
after  rain." 

Still  another  principle  is  clearly  revealed  in  the 


320  THE  FIRST  REBELLION 

Scriptures,  nor  is  it  one  of  minor  consideration. 
It  is,  that  the  authority  of  civil  government  is  bind- 
ing on  the  conscience,  and  that  obedience  to  it  is  no 
less  a  moral,  titan  apolitical  duty.  This  would  be 
a  fair  and  logical  deduction  from  the  foregoing 
remarks;  but  we  may  not  dismiss  so  important 
a  thought  without  establishing  and  enforcing  it. 
We  affirm  that  the  Bible  establishes  the  supremacy 
of  the  laws  ;  and  that  the  subjects  of  every  rec- 
ognized government  ought  to  obey  them  from  a 
sense  of  moral  obligation.  The  rights  of  the  gov- 
ernment and  the  duty  of  the  subject  rest  on  the 
same  foundation — the  revealed  will  of  God.  The 
government  of  law,  so  far  as  it  regards  its  obliga- 
tions on  the  conscience,  is  God's  government. 

There  are  important  reasons  why  submission  to 
the  authority  of  civil  government  should  be 
strongly  inculcated  in  the  sacred  Scriptures.  God 
would  have  those  who  fear  him  and  love  his  Son, 
the  known  friends  of  law  and  order.  It  were  a 
blow  Christianity  could  never  survive,  if  it  were  a 
disloyal  religion,  and  if  those  who  profess  and 
those  who  preach  it  were  disorganizers.  If  there 
be  those  who 

"  Cry  havoc,  and  let  slip  the  dogs  of  war," 

they  must  not  be  Christian  men.  Christian  men 
must  be  men  of  peace.  Modern  infidels,  and  hea- 
then politicians  in  times  of  old,  were  wont  to  repre- 


IN  THE  HEBREW  COMMONWEALTH.  321 

sent  the  disciples  of  Jesus  as  a  seditious  community, 
as  the  enemies  of  Caesar,  and  rebels  against  the  laws 
of  the  land.  Many  a  Christian  has  gone  to  the  stake, 
and  to  the  amphitheatre  to  be  the  sport  of  beasts 
of  prey,  because  pagan  disorganizes  had  the  ad- 
dress to  cast  upon  them  the  odium  of  their  own 
seditions.  Christianity,  therefore,  most  distinctly 
disclaims  all  sympathy  with  the  spirit  and  artifices 
of  sedition  in  every  form  and  degree.  Wherever 
it  exists,  she  condemns  it.  Whether  found  in  the 
church,  or  out  of  it,  she  washes  her  hands  of  all 
this  class  of  sins.  She  throws  her  guardianship 
alike  around  the  emperor's  throne,  the  mandate 
of  every  court  of  law,  the  exactions  of  the  custom- 
house, and  the  execution  of  the  constable. 

The  Apostle  Paul,  in  writing  to  the  Christians  at 
Rome,  and  then  under  the  government  of  one  of 
her  most  arbitrary  and  cruel  tyrants,  uses  such  lan- 
guage as  the  following :  "  Let  every  soul  be  subject 
unto  the  higher  powers ;  whoso  resisteth  the  power, 
resistetli  the  ordinance  of  God;  wherefore,  ye  must 
needs  be  subject,  not  only  for  wrath,  but  for  con- 
science' sake."  His  example  is  one  of  the  reasons 
why  so  many  ministers  of  the  gospel  in  this  land 
have  recently  been  employed  in  inculcating  fidelity 
to  the  government,  and  the  supremacy  of  the  laws. 
It  is  a  part  of  the  gospel  they  preach,  and  a  most 
important  part  of  it ;  for  where  would  be  the  un- 
molested opportunity  of  preaching  that  gospel, 

14* 


THE  FIRST   REBELLION 


and  where  its  triumphs,  without  the  protection  of 
human  laws?  When  the  great  Apostle  of  the 
Gentiles,  under  the  direction  of  the  Holy  Spirit, 
was  writing  to  a  youthful  minister  of  Christ,  with 
a  view  of  directing  him  how  to  conduct  himself  in 
his  sacred  office,  instead  of  cautioning  him  not  to 
intermeddle  with  political  subjects,  he  solemnly 
requires  him  to  admonish  men  everywhere  of  their 
duty  to  the  civil  power.  He  knew  that  the 
Christians  would  often  be  scandalized  by  the 
measures  of  the  government ;  that  they  would 
be  sufficiently  sensitive  to  the  wrongs  they  must 
suffer,  and  under  strong  temptations  to  a  com- 
plaining, if  not  a  mutinous  spirit.  And  he  knew 
that  the  inexperienced  and  warm-hearted  young 
preacher  to  whom  he  was  writing,  would  be  far 
from  being  officious  on  so  delicate  a  topic ;  and 
therefore  he  says  to  him,  "  Put  them  in  mind  to 
be  subject  to  principalities,  and  powers,  and  to 
obey  magistrates."  The  language  of  the  Bible  to 
Christians  everywhere  is,  "  Submit  yourself  to 
every  ordinance  of  man  for  the  Lord's  sake ; 
whether  it  be  to  the  king  as  supreme,  or  unto 
governors." 

If  you  ask  the  question,  do  then  tlie  teachings  of 
the  Bible  bind  men  to  obey  a  wicked  law,  and  one 
that  requires  tliem  to  violate  the  law  of  God  ?  It 
were  easy  to  give  a  categorical  answer  to  this 
question,  and  quite  as  easy  for  that  answer  to  be 


IN  THE  HEBREW  COMMONWEALTH.      323 

perverted  or  abused.  The  law  of  God  is  superior 
to  all  other  laws.  When  the  only  alternative  is 
to  obey  God,  or  man ;  conscience  has  but  one 
course  to  pursue.  Here  every  man's  conscience  is 
supreme.  His  personal  responsibility  to  God  must 
forever  remain  untouched  by  human  laws.  "  God 
alone  is  Lord  of  the  conscience." 

But  when  we  say  these  things,  we  desire  to  be 
explicitly  understood.  A  man  may  be  conscien- 
tious in  doing  wrong  ;  for  we  are  told  in  the  Scrip- 
tures, that  "  there  is  a  way  that  seemeth  right  to  a 
man ;  but  the  end  thereof  are  the  ways  of  death." 
When  we  say  that  God  alone  is  Lord  of  the  con- 
science, we  may  not  forget,  that  for  this  reason  he 
is  above  conscience.  Men  may  err  ;  God  alone  can- 
not err,  and  therefore  his  word  alone  is  the  ultimate 
resort.  No  man  may  appeal  from  God's  word  to 
conscience,  or  follow  conscience  in  opposition  to 
God's  word.  It  is  not  enough  for  men  to  think 
they  are  right ;  they  must  knoiv  they  are  so  be- 
fore they  may  confide  in  the  dictates  of  conscience ; 
nor  can  they  know  this  without  knowing  the  mind 
and  will  of  God. 

It  is  true  that  no  immoral  law  may  bind  the 
conscience;  but  it  is  not  true  that  every  man 
must  judge  of  the  morality  of  the  laws  of  the 
land,  unless  he  judges  right,  and  in  accordance 
with  the  Bible.  If  he  has  the  word  of  God  in 
his  hands,  and  his  conscience   misleads  him,  he 


324  THE   FIRST   REBELLION 

is  without  excuse.  Men  may  present  false  views 
to  conscience ;  they  may  deceive  conscience ;  and 
conscience  is  then  no  safe  guide.  There  is  no  ob- 
jection to  men  being  "  a  law  unto  themselves,"  so 
long  as  they  are  right ;  if  they  are  wrong,  con- 
science is  no  law.  The  more  erroneous  a  man's 
conscience  is,  and  the  more  opposed  to  the  Bible, 
and  the  more  exacting  and  obdurate ;  the  more 
fearfully  does  he  sin. 

We  see  no  safe  position  to  assume  on  this  sub- 
ject unless  it  be,  that  conscience  is  a  safe  guide 
only  when  it  harmonizes  with  the  word  of  God. 
Conscience,  in  India,  requires  the  widow  to  burn 
herself  on  the  funeral  pile  of  her  husband ;  in 
the  South  Sea  Islands,  it  requires  infanticide ;  in 
Africa,  it  requires  that  children  destroy  their 
aged  parents.  God  himself  pronounces  a  woe 
upon  "them  who  call  good  evil,  and  evil  good." 
Conscience  may  pronounce  a  perverted  judgment, 
because  it  does  not  submit  itself  to  the  law  of 
God.  This  moral  chronometer  must  be  rectified 
by  the  sun,  else  is  it  a  false  guide. 

It  is,  therefore,  very  doubtful  ground  for  a  man 
to  occupy,  in  such  a  land  as  this,  where  all  the 
tendencies  are  to  anarchy,  and  none  of  them  to  ab- 
solutism, when  he  undertakes  to  balance  the  obli- 
gation between  those  revealed  laws,  one  of  which 
requires  him  to  obey  the  moral  law,  and  the  other 
of  which  requires  him  to  obey  the  civil  government. 


IN  THE   HEBREW  COMMONWEALTH.  325 

Facts  in  abundance  teach  us,  that  in  political  dis- 
sensions, conscience  is  a  very  pliable  and  change- 
ful thing.  It  may  be  impossible  for  civil  govern- 
ment to  frame  its  laws  so  as  to  suit  every  maris 
conscience  ;  this  would  make  individual  conscience 
the  law  of  the  land,  and  be  subversive  of  all  civil 
government.  When,  therefore,  conscience  sits  in 
judgment  upon  the  mandates  of  the  civil  law,  and 
purchases  her  freedom  at  the  expense  of  penalty, 
the  case  must  be  as  clear  and  palpable  as  that 
which  drove  Daniel  to  the  den  of  lions,  his  three 
friends  to  the  fiery  furnace,  and  the  apostles  to  the 
block.  Even  then,  a  conscientious  man  would  be 
content  to  save  his  own  single  conscience  harm- 
less, without  becoming  an  open  revolter  or  the 
preacher  of  revolt.  He  would  tread  softly  on 
such  ground  as  this.  All  have  not  the  same 
light;  nor  the  same  freedom  from  passion  and 
prejudice;  nor  the  same  purity  of  motive  and  be- 
nevolence of  spirit.  If  the  government  were  to 
pass  a  law  that  no  day  should  be  regarded  as 
sacred  but  the  Lord's-day;  it  would  admit  of  a 
question  whether  the  Jew  or  the  Mohammedan 
would  be  justified  in  the  sight  of  God  in  resisting 
the  law.  Men  should  sometimes  distrust  their 
own  consciences,  and  have  some  respect  to  the 
conscience  of  enlightened  and  good  men.  The  in- 
stances are  exceedingly  rare  in  which  a  man  is  jus- 
tified in  disregarding  all  other  consciences  except 


326  THE  FIRST   REBELLION 

his  own.  If  he  has  a  doubt  upon  his  mind,  that 
doubt  should  preponderate  in  favor  of  the  civil 
government ;  because  God  requires  him  to  be  a 
loyal  subject.  Cases  of  the  kind  which  justify 
even  his  submission  to  penalty,  can  hardly  occur 
under  a  Christian  government,  because  there  is  a 
remedy  in  law  itself. 

We  would  be  slow  in  endorsing  the  broad  posi- 
tion, "  that  the  action  of  civil  governments  within 
their  appropriate  jurisdiction  is  final  and  conclu- 
sive upon  the  citizen  f  for  the  obvious  reason  that 
civil  governments  even  in  their  jurisdiction  over 
the  social  relations,  may  require  that  which  the 
moral  law  forbids,  and  forbid  that  which  the 
moral  law  requires.  If  the  state  requires  me 
to  sin  against  God,  I  may  not  sin  against  him; 
nor  may  I  sin  against  him  in  violating  the  obliga- 
tions of  the  second  table  of  the  law,  any  more 
than  the  first  table.  This  is  certainly  a  sound 
principle  of  morals ;  and  so  far  as  I  am  informed, 
a  sound  principle  of  law.  So  says  Hooker  in 
his  "Ecclesiastical  Polity;"  "The  public  power 
of  all  societies,  is  above  every  soul  contained  in 
the  same  societies.  And  the  principal  use  of 
that  power  is  to  give  laws  unto  all  that  are  under 
it;  which  laws  in  such  case  we  must  obey;  un- 
less there  be  reason  showed  which  may  necessa- 
rily enforce,  that  the  law  of  reason,  or  God  doth 
enjoin  the  contrary?    Blackstone  affirms,  that  "  no 


IN  THE  HEBREW  COMMONWEALTH.      327 

human  laws  are  of  any  validity  if  contrary  to  the 
laws  of  God.  If  any  human  law  should  allow,  or 
enjoin  us  to  commit  murder,  we  are  bound  to 
transgress  that  human  law."  The  principle  on 
which  we  are  animadverting  would  be  sound,  if 
civil  governments  never  interfered  with  the  divine 
law  in  matters  which  relate  to  the  social  rights 
and  duties  of  men. 

A  wicked  law  is  not  law /  it  is  of  the  nature 
of  law  "  to  command  what  is  right,  and  prohibit 
what  is  wrong."  Whether  any  particular  law 
be,  or  be  not  contrary  to  the  law  of  God  can 
be  legally  decided  only  by  that  department  of 
the  government  which  has  a  constitutional  right 
to  decide  this  grave  question;  and  while  every 
man's  conscience  must,  in  the  last  resort,  reserve 
this  question  for  its  own  adjudication,  he  will 
rarely  act  amiss,  if  he  suspects  his  own  conscience 
rather  than  the  conscience  of  more  able  and  better 
men,  and  the  conscience  of  the  law. 

The  question  is  a  more  serious  one,  whether  it 
is  not  inconsistent  with  the  instructions  which  the 
Bible  gives  on  the  subject  of  civil  government, 
ever  to  revolutionize  and  overthrow  the  government 
itself?  Yet  to  this  question,  it  appears  to  us,  but 
one  answer  can  be  given.  The  Bible  nowhere  ad- 
vocates the  doctrine  of  "passive  obedience  and 
non-resistance,"  to  such  an  extent,  as  to  forbid  all 
hope  of  relief  from  a  wicked  and  tyrannical  gov- 


328  THE  FIRST  REBELLION 

ernment,  or  to  condemn  the  efforts  of  an  enlight- 
ened and  long-oppressed  people  in  rising  in  their 
majesty  to  shake  off  a  tyrannical  yoke.  The  .prin- 
ciples to  which  we  have  referred,  abundantly  jus- 
tify such  an  effort. 

When  the  Scriptures  instruct  us,  that  civil 
government  is  of  divine  authority,  they  do  not 
interdict  any  such  modifications,  or  changes,  or 
revolutions  in  the  government  as  the  mass  of 
the  people  may  demand.  The  fact  that  the  Bi- 
ble establishes  the  authority  of  a  government  when 
thus  revolutionized,  recognizes  the  right  of  revo- 
lution. There  are  rights  of  the  people  which 
are  superior  to  the  rights  of  their  rulers,  and 
which,  when  incorrigibly  abused,  justify  the  peo- 
ple in  throwing  themselves  back  upon  those  prin- 
ciples of  self-preservation  which  underlie  all  hu- 
man laws,  which  are  written  deep  and  indelibly 
on  the  fleshly  tables  of  the  human  heart,  and  are 
inseparably  entwined  with  the  bone  and  sinew  of 
an  oppressed  and  injured  community.  When  the 
Scriptures  teach  us,  that  that  which  constitutes  the 
government  is  the  actual  and  peaceable  possession 
of  the  civil  authority  ;  they  leave  the  way  open 
for  change  when  the  exigency  of  the  times  calls 
for  it,  and  the  spirit  of  complaint  and  dissatisfac- 
tion is  so  rife  among  the  people,  that  the  govern- 
ment can  no  longer  be  endured.  When  the  Scrip- 
tures also  teach  us  that  civil  government  is  insti- 


IN  THE  HEBREW  COMMONWEALTH.      329 

tuted /w  the  good  of  the  people  ;  they  implicitly 
teach  us,  that  where  the  good  of  the  people  is  the 
sport  of  the  government,  there  is  redress  some- 
where ;  and  if  it  cannot  be  found  in  the  govern- 
ment, it  must  be  found  in  the  people  themselves. 
And  when  the  Scriptures  teach  us,  that  the  author- 
ity of  civil  government  is  binding  on  the  con- 
science ;  though  they '  do  not  suppose  that  the 
government  is  always  thus  lawfully  exercised,  yet 
do  they  inculcate  this  duty ;  and  where  there  is 
no  such  exercise  of  it,  they  leave  it  to  the  sound 
discretion  of  an  aggrieved  people  to  submit  to  the 
penalty  of  the  laws,  or  to  effect  a  change  in  the 
government.  There  is  a  difference  between  the 
legitimate  design  of  government  and  the  abuse 
of  power  by  wicked  men.  When  a  government 
becomes  so  corrupt  as  to  lose  sight  of  its  legiti- 
mate ends  ;  when  it  becomes  a  terror  to  the  good 
and  a  praise  to  the  bad ;  when  it  becomes  so  de- 
generate as  even  to  require  palpable  disobedience 
to  the  laws  of  God  ;  disobedience  is  not  only  law- 
ful, but  change,  revolt,  and  revolution  are  lawful, 
if  they  are  expedient.  It  is  simply,  in  such  a  crisis, 
a  question  of  expediency,  whether  the  refusal  to 
obey  the  government  shall  assume  the  form  of 
revolution,  or  submission  to  penalty. 

This,  all  agree  in  regarding  as  a  nice  and  a  dim- 
cult  question.  If  there  is  danger  to  be  appre- 
hended from  any  quarter,  it  is  from  a  revolution- 


330  THE  FIRST  REBELLION 

ary  spirit ;  as  a  general  fact,  there  is  no  more 
criminal,  or  dangerous  spirit  that  ever  reigns  in 
the  human  heart.  It  is  the  most  desperate  spirit, 
and  like  hurricane  and  fire,  its  consequences  are 
waste  and  havoc.  It  is  inflamed  by  success  and 
reckless  by  despair.  There  is  fearful  responsi- 
bility in  braving  the  fury  of  revolution,  and  the 
convulsion  and  overturning  of  established  govern- 
ments. There  may  be  evils  in  human  govern- 
ments ;  there  may  be  institutions  and  laws  that 
are  unwise  and  injurious,  and  such  as  every  friend 
to  God  and  man  may  wish  to  see  abolished ;  while 
a  rash  and  furious  war  upon  them  may  perpetuate 
the  evil,  and  entail,  not  only  accumulated  woes, 
but  accumulated  sins.  Yet,  full  of  responsibility 
as  this  question  is,  there  are  conjunctures  and 
crises  when  it  must  be  decided  in  favor  of  revolt 
and  revolution.  Just  as  there  are  instances  in 
which  disobedience  to  parents  is  a  duty,  are  there 
instances  in  which  it  is  a  duty  to  revolt  against 
the  civil  government.  But  it  must  not  be  forgot- 
ten, that  as  loyalty  is  the  rule,  and  disloyalty  the 
exception,  nothing  can  be  more  baneful  than  an 
overweening  solicitude  to  discover  the  exceptions. 

The  circumstances  in  which  revolt  is  justifiable 
should  be  most  clear,  and  the  necessity  absolute. 
The  oppression  must  be  grievous  and  intolerable  ; 
for  nothing  less  than  this  would  justify  an  under- 
taking which  must  necessarily  be  fraught  with  so 


IN  THE  HEBREW   COMMONWEALTH  331 

many  calamities.  It  must  be  general,  because  par- 
tial oppression  oftentimes  cannot  be  avoided  in 
securing  the  greatest  amount  of  good  to  the  -na- 
tion. The  evil,  too,  which  is  complained  of,  should 
be  permanent,  or  have  the  prospect  of  permanency. 
A  single  passing  cloud  will  not  justify  revolt. 
Men  can  afford  to  exercise  a  little  patience,  lest  in 
rashly  fleeing  from  the  iron  weapon,  they  rush  on 
the  bow  of  steel.  There  should  also  exist  ufair  and 
reasonable  prospect,  a  well-founded  expectation  that 
the  effort  will  be  crowned  with  success.  Although 
men  of  high  and  noble  daring  may  consent  to  haz- 
ard their  own  fortunes  and  lives  in  resisting  tyran- 
ny, they  have  no  right  to  put  in  jeopardy  the  for- 
tunes, and  well-being,  and  lives  of  others ;  of  their 
wives  and  children ;  of  future  generations,  or  of 
the  welfare  of  their  common  country,  in  an  enter- 
prise which,  at  the  best,  may  be  very  doubtful. 
When  circumstances  offer  no  hope,  or  slight  hopes 
of  success,  it  is  their  duty  to  suffer  patiently  and 
"  bide  their  time."  And  then,  who  is  to  be  the 
judge  of  this  existing  condition,  and  this  present 
emergency  ?  Individuals  ?  Most  certainly  not 
so.  A  section,  or  sections  of  the  common  coun- 
try ?  They  as  little.  It  is  only  when  the  nation, 
as  a  man,  are  impressed  with  a  sense  of  their 
wrongs,  that  these  conditions  exist;  impressed, 
not  by  the  instigations  of  the  few,  not  by  the  in- 
trigues of  ambitious  chieftains,  but  by  that  deep 


832  THE  FIRST   REBELLION 

and  abiding  sense  of  right,  that  sense  of  oppres- 
sion which  exists  in  the  popular  mind  which  can 
no  longer  be  resisted.  It  is  when  the  nation  are 
animated  by  one  feeling,  which  intuitively  per- 
vades the  masses;  when,  without  a  word,  man 
knows  the  one  thought  of  his  fellow-man,  and 
vows  of  fidelity  and  courage  are  superfluous  and 
undemanded ;  then,  and  not  till  then,  can  a  people 
decide,  and  decide  as  it  were  by  intuition,  that  re- 
sistance to  the  powers  that  be  is  lawful.  Then, 
and  not  till  then,  will  they  see,  with  that  con- 
sciousness of  strength  and  courage,  and  that  confi- 
dence in  a  higher  power,  which  are  the  surest 
pledges  that  their  efforts  will  not  be  for  naught, 
the  sweet  promise  that  through  suffering  and  trial, 
they  will  work  out  a  brighter  day — a  day  they 
themselves  indeed  may  never  see,  but  which  will 
dawn  upon  their  children,  and  reflect  its  meridian 
brightness  over  unborn  millions.  It  is  often  said, 
that  rebellion,  when  successful,  becomes  revolution. 
But  though  mere  success  is  no  proof  of  the  recti- 
tude and  goodness  of  the  cause  on  which  it  lights ; 
yet  here  it  proves  that  it  was  but  the  consequences 
of  those  conjunctures,  the  result  of  that  spirit, 
which  alone  could  justify  the  attempt.  Seditious 
leaders  cannot  judge  of  the  expediency  of  resist- 
ance to  human  laws;  neither  can  sectional  inte- 
rests ;  neither  can  the  few  pure  patriots  who  la- 
ment the  disorders  of  the  times ;  neither  can  the 


IN  THE  HEBREW  COMMONWEALTH.  333 

profound  jurist  and  statesman,  who  prove  clear  as 
the  light  of  day,  that  the  government  oversteps 
its  lawful  authority.  It  must  be  the  people ;  the 
national  mind  must  think ;  the  national  heart  must 
beat  with  one  common  thought,  and  hope,  and 
consciousness  of  right.  Then  this  true  arbiter  has 
spoken;  "vox  populi,  vox  Dei."  Yet  would  we 
be  slow  and  cautious  in  inculcating  these  truths. 
It  was  a  weighty  remark  of  Fox,  then  the  first  no- 
bleman in  the  English  empire,  that  "  the  doctrine 
of  resistance  is  a  principle  which  we  should  wish 
kings  never  to  forget,  and  their  subjects  seldom 
to  remember." 

Such  are  some  of  the  principles  of  civil  govern- 
ment as  revealed  in  the  Scriptures.  Our  second 
object  is,  to  direct  our  thoughts  to  some  of  the 

MEANS  BY  WHICH  THESE  PRINCIPLES  ARE  BROUGHT 
INTO  DISREPUTE  AND  LOSE  THEIR  INFLUENCE. 

It  is  no  easy  matter  to  administer  civil  govern- 
ment wisely.  Moses,  accomplished  statesman  as 
he  was,  found  it  difficult  to  satisfy  the  nation  of 
Israel,  even  though  the  authority  under  which  he 
acted  was  of  divine  appointment,  miraculously  re- 
vealed, and  the  laws  he  published  received  the 
sanction  of  heavenly  wisdom.  Man  is  naturally 
prone  to  a  lawless  spirit ;  he  is  an  insubordinate 
being;  nor  is  it  until  after  long  discipline,  and 
until  the  voice  of  reason  and  conscience  gains  a 
hearing   above  the   clamors  of  passion,  that  he 


334  THE  FIRST  REBELLION 

learns  to  be  cheerfully  subject  to  the  laws  of  God 
or  man.  Some  of  the  means  by  which  the  doc- 
trines of  the  Bible  on  this  subject  are  counter- 
vailed, are  common  to  all  ages  of  the  world ;  and 
some  of  them  have  a  more  special  character,  and 
are  relevant  rather  to  a  particular  age.  It  may 
perhaps  be  the  best  service  we  can  perform  to  take 
notice  of  those,  some  of  which  are  peculiar  to  our 
own  times. 

One  of  these  is,  the  spirit  of  religious  fanati- 
cism. We  are  not  infidels.  The  world  ha9  seen 
enough  of  the  baleful  influence  of  irreligious  and 
infidel  principles  upon  the  civil  government.  Never 
do  politicians  give  greater  proof  of  their  own  ig- 
norance and  weakness,  than  in  giving  currency  to 
the  principles  of  infidelity  and  irreligion.  Spread 
this  poison  throughout  the  body  politic,  and  you 
diffuse  an  unhinging  agency  throughout  all  the 
social  relations,  and  become  the  propagators  of 
duplicity,  intrigue,  and  disorganization.  If  the 
sinews  of  human  government  are  ever  weakened, 
it  is  by  the  subtle  and  powerful  influence  of  irre- 
ligion and  infidelity. 

But  there  is  an  opposite  extreme,  which  is  just 
as  ignorant,  if  not  quite  so  irreligious.  There  is  a 
so-called  spirit  of  reform  which  partakes  so  largely 
of  the  radical  principles  of  disorganization,  that  it 
is  not  only  a  misguided,  but  a  wicked  spirit,  and  is 
intent  on  doing  right  even  at  the  expense  of  doing 


IN  THE  HEBREW  COMMONWEALTH.      335 

wrong.  Political  errors,  especially  when  they  find 
a  lodgment  in  the  minds  of  religious  men,  are  near 
of  kin  to  religious  errors,  and  do  immense  mischief 
in  the  world.  Hooker,  in  his  "  Ecclesiastical  Poli- 
ty," alluding  to  such  religionists,  makes  the  re- 
mark, that  such  men  "  are  not  always  the  best  in 
regard  of  society ;  the  reason  whereof  is,  that  the 
law  of  men's  actions  is  one,  if  they  be  respected 
only  as  men ;  and  another  when  they  are  consid- 
ered as  parts  of  a  politic  body.  There  are  those 
whose  betters  among  men  would  hardly  be  found, 
if  they  did  not  live  amongst  men,  but  in  some 
wilderness  by  themselves."  Those  who  are  re- 
solved, at  every  hazard,  to  be  controlled  by  their 
religious  impulses,  and  who  rush  to  their  conclu- 
sions with  fanatical  recklessness,  are  very  apt  to  be 
under  the  guidance  of  a  perverted  conscience  and 
will.  It  is  a  mawkish  sentimentalism,  a  transcen- 
dental benevolence  that  governs  them,  and  not  the 
sober  truths  of  the  Bible.  Not  a  few  of  them  are 
good  men;  but  they  are  misguided  men,  and  in 
their  political  sphere,  unsafe  men.  Their  opinions 
are  more  than  questionable ;  nor  is  the  danger 
small,  that  they  will  persist  in  them,  even  after  they 
are  secretly  convinced  that  they  are  erroneous. 
Their  very  impulsiveness,  their  combinations,  and 
their  infuriate  zeal  cast  a  suspicion  upon  their 
judgment  and  their  motives.  Men,  who,  like  Saul 
of  Tarsus,  are  "  mad"  in  doing,  what  they  "  verily 


336  THE  FIRST   REBELLION 

think,"  is  right,  scarcely  ever  fail  to  do  wrong. 
When  I  see  those  who  are  so  hurried  on  by  con- 
science, as  to  "  breathe  out  threatenings  and  slaugh- 
ter," I  cannot  suppress  the  thought  that  they 
would  do  well  to  sit  in  severer  judgment  upon 
their  own  motives,  and  catechize  the  spirit  that 
governs  them  somewhat  more  closely. 

There  is  no  small  amount  of  sophistical  reason- 
ing on  the  subject  of  civil  government,  and  of  the 
duty  of  its  citizens  to  the  laws,  and  more  espe- 
cially among  religious  men.  The  discussions  in 
Parliament,  during  the  Commonwealth  under 
Cromwell,  furnish  an  instructive  lesson  to  Chris- 
tian statesmen.  The  error  of  not  a  few  in  our 
own  day  lies  in  reasoning  correctly  from  false 
principles.  They  assume  that  it  is  the  province 
of  human  governments  to  adopt  a.pe?fect  system 
of  legislation,  and  one  which  tolerates  nothing  that 
is  'wrong.  Yet  is  there  no  more  unsound  principle 
than  this,  if  it  once  be  employed  in  human  legis- 
lation. Who  does  not  see  that  it  transforms  the 
state  into  the  charcli,  and  invests  it  with  inquisi- 
torial power  ? 

The  sacred  writers  were  too  well  instructed 
to  overlook  the  distinction  between  moral  and 
civil  laws.  Moral  law  lays  down  rules  that  are 
fit  for  individual  conscience ;  civil  law  contem- 
plates men  as  formed  into  communities,  and  exist- 
ing in  a  social  state.     Moral  law  requires  absolute 


■  IN  THE  HEBREW  COMMONWEALTH      337 

perfection  ;  it  tolerates  no  evil,  either  in  the  heart, 
or  in  the  life.  Civil  law  must  fall  far  short  of  this, 
or  defeat  its  own  ends.  Moral  law  makes  men  re- 
sponsible to  God  ;  civil  law  makes  them  responsi- 
ble to  the  state.  The  civil  law  of  the  Jews,  pre- 
scribed by  God  himself,  tolerated  usages  that  were 
inconsistent  with  the  moral  law,  because  it  is  not 
the  province  of  any  civil  code  to  establish  a  sinless 
community.  If  this  were  the  object  of  civil  gov- 
ernment, it  would  need  no  other  system  of  legis- 
lation than  the  ten  commandments.  We  do  not 
say  that  human  laws  may  ever  require  men  to  do 
wrong ;  but  it  does  not  follow  that  they  ought  to 
require  them  to  do  all  that  is  right.  Nor  does  it 
follow  that  they  ought  to  forbid  all  that  is  wrong ; 
for  it  is  impossible  for  them  to  reach  all  that  is 
wrong  ;  human  justice  can  never  be  so  active,  vigi- 
lant, and  cautious.  Such  laws  could  never  be  en- 
forced. In  such  a  system  of  legislation,  the  inten- 
tion would  be  the  corpus  delecti,  and  this  would 
have  to  be  tried  by  fallible  judges,  liable  to  partial- 
ity and  corruption,  and  by  means  of  witnesses  per- 
haps still  more  liable. 

In  a  civil  government,  men  and  times  must  be 
taken  as  they  are,  and  governed  by  laws  as  wise 
and  good  as  a  sound  policy  can  execute.  Unexe- 
cuted laws  are  the  bane  of  government,  and  never- 
failing  badge  of  its  weakness.  Human  govern- 
ments  may  legislate   too  much,  as   well   as   too 

VOL.  II. 15 


338  THE  FIRST  REBELLION 

little.  Laws  that  are  wise  and  good,  not  only- 
have  a  good,  but  an  attainable  object,  and  one 
of  sufficient  importance  to  demand  their  enact- 
ment. When  human  governments  attempt  to  do 
more  than  this,  they  are  Utopian,  and  attempt 
what  is  impracticable.  I  can  imagine  no  state 
of  anarchy,  or  contention  worse  than  that  which 
would  be  produced  by  civil  laws  attempting  to 
enforce  all  that  is  right,  and  to  prohibit  all  that 
is  wrong.  It  is  fanaticism  to  dream  of  such  legis- 
lation, and  not  the  religion  of  the  Bible.  I  am 
afraid  of  this  wild  and  fanatical  spirit,  not  only 
because  it  thus  loses  sight  of  the  necessity  of 
adapting  the  institutions  of  civil  government  to 
the  character  and  condition  of  the  people,  but  be- 
cause it  gives  such  currency  to  a  lawless  state  of 
mind.  "  Rebellion  is  as  the  sin  of  witchcraft." 
The  step  from  loyalty  to  disloyalty  crosses  an  ex- 
tent of  ground  beneath  which  may  be  a  thousand 
volcanic  fires.  We  say  to  those  who  are  governed 
by  such  a  spirit,  "  If  the  Lord  have  stirred  thee 
up  against  us,  let  him  accept  an  offering ;  but  if 
they  be  the  children  of  men,  cursed  be  they  before 
the  Lord !" 

I  speak  earnestly  on  this  topic,  because  the  evil 
on  which  I  am  animadverting  is  a  growing  evil. 
They  are  not  the  leaders  of  revolt  merely,  who 
have  drank  deep  into  this  spirit ;  the  cup  goes 
round  insidiously  among   the   people.      Nor   are 


IN  THE  HEBREW   COMMONWEALTH.  339 

they  a  few  visionary  theorists  in  the  religious 
world,  nor  a  few  ambitious  politicians,  that  can 
overturn  our  institutions.  If  this  fearful  catastrophe 
is  ever  effected,  it  will  be  effected  by  the  people. 
If  the  public  mind  can  become  so  perverted  and 
debauched  as  to  be  convinced  that  it  is  under  re- 
ligious obligations  to  set  the  laws  of  the  land  at 
defiance,  faction  and  discord  will  have  triumphed, 
and  triumphed  under  the  badge  of  sanctity.  Yet 
will  we  hope  for  better  things.  The  character  of 
the  people  is,  we  trust,  under  the  divine  favor, 
some  security  against  this  foul  contagion.  We  are 
not  yet  prepared  to  endorse  the  notion  that  the 
sacred  writers  are  behind  the  spirit  of  the  age,  nor 
to  tread  in  the  footsteps  of  those  who  profess  to 
be  better  than  the  Bible. 

The  church  of  God  has,  for  the  most  part,  hith- 
erto exerted  a  conservatory  influence  in  this  land. 
It  is  one  of  the  hio;h  commendations  of  Christian- 
ity,  that  it  is  no  innovator  except  upon  customs 
and  usages  which  God's  word  forbids;  and  it 
ought  to  be  one  of  the  high  encomiums  upon 
Christian  men,  that  they  are  not  agitators.  There 
is  no  state  of  society,  and  no  form  of  government 
to  which  the  Christian  religion  is  not  adapted; 
and  if  it  finds  institutions  in  any  community  that 
are  unwise  and  inconsistent  with  the  benevolent 
spirit  it  inculcates,  it  has  a  more  silent  and  effective 
method  of  reform,  than  furious  denunciation,  violent 


340  THE  FIRST   REBELLION 

convulsion,  and  resistance  to  the  laws  of  the 
land. 

Another  of  the  means  by  which  these  salutary 
principles  are  in  danger  of  losing  their  efficacy,  is 
a  perversion  of  the  doctrine  of  human  rights.  It 
is  of  evil  omen,  in  a  country  like  this,  when  the 
principles  which  the  Bible  inculcates  in  relation  to 
civil  government  are  considered  as  an  attack  on 
the  rights  and  liberties  of  the  people.  It  is  our 
pride  and  our  happiness,  that  there  are  so  many 
uninterrupted  links  between  the  administration  of 
national  power  and  its  constituents,  that  so  long 
as  the  government  is  protected,  the  rights  of  the 
people  are  safe.  It  is  not  merely  by  the  enaction 
of  wholesome  laws,  in  its  legislative  capacity,  that 
a  nation  is  free ;  but  in  the  fact,  that  the  laws  are 
an  expression  of  the  mind  and  will  of  the  nation. 
Fruitful  as  our  history  is  in  lessons  of  political 
wisdom,  it  offers  none  more  instructive  than  that 
whenever  the  voice  of  the  law  is  heard  it  triumphs. 
There  are  no  civil  rights,  which  such  a  government 
does  not  secure. 

True  it  is,  that  men  have  rights — natural,  essen- 
tial, and  unalienable  rights;  but  it  is  also  true, 
that  there  are  rights  which  they  do  not  naturally 
possess,  and  which  are  given  them  by  the  laws  of 
their  social  organization.  The  rights  which  they 
thus  obtain  from  the  protection  of  the  laws,  are 
more  in  number  and  not  less  valuable  than  those 


IN  THE  HEBREW   COMMONWEALTH.  341 

which  they  enjoy  as  the  inheritance  of  their  com- 
mon humanity.  No  man  has  a  right  to  be  gov- 
erned as  he  pleases  to  be  governed;  this  is  no 
government.  There  were  days  when  "  there  was 
no  king  in  Israel,  but  every  man  did  that  which 
seemed  right  in  his  own  eyes."  He  was  his  own 
governor ;  his  own  will,  his  passions,  his  caprice 
were  his  law.  Is  this  the  true  doctrine  of  human 
rights  ;  or  does  that  doctrine  involve  those  rights 
of  the  government,  and  those  duties  of  subordina- 
tion, which,  with  even-handed  justice,  protect  alike 
the  government  and  the  governed  ?  If  the  subject 
has  his  rights,  the  ruler  has  his.  If  the  child,  the 
wife,  the  ward,  the  slave  have  their  rights,  the 
parent,  the  husband,  the  guardian,  and  the  master 
have  theirs.  This  is  God's  arrangement,  as  the 
God  of  nature,  the  God  of  providence,  and  the  au- 
thor of  civil  government.  Where  these  reciprocal 
rights  and  their  corellative  obligations  are  under- 
stood, and  protected  from  lawless  encroachment, 
there  is  the  government  which  the  Bible  recog- 
nizes ;  and  where  they  are  best  protected,  and 
best  enforced,  there  is  the  best  exemplification  of 
the  doctrine  of  human  rights. 

There  is  nothing  more  easily  perverted  than 
this  doctrine ;  and  nothing  that  indicates  greater 
obtuseness  of  conscience,  and  greater  obduracy  of 
heart,  than  this  perversion.  The  devil  perverted 
it  in  Paradise.     The  revolting  confederates  of  Ko- 


342  THE  FIRST   REBELLION 

rah  perverted  it,  when  they  said  to  Moses  and 
Aaron,  "  Ye  take  too  much  upon  you ;  seeing  all 
the  congregation  are  holy,  wherefore  lift  ye  up 
yourselves  above  the  congregation  of  the  Lord  V 

This  nation  stands  forth  before  the  world  as  the 
intelligent  and  consistent  advocate  of  the  rights 
of  the  peojrie ;  but  of  what  value  are  these  rights 
where  the  spirit  of  liberty  is  recreant  to  law  ?  We 
have  no  truer  conceptions  of  human  liberty  than 
that  it  is  that  state  of  society  where  the  laws  are 
good,  and  the  laws  govern.  A  liberty  that  falls 
short  of  this,  degenerates  into  despotism;  a  lib- 
erty that  goes  beyond  it,  terminates  in  wild  mis- 
rule and  lawless  licentiousness. 

Men  may  bluster  and  talk  stoutly  about  liberty 
and  the  rights  of  man,  and  the  galling  chains  of 
slavery,  who,  if  they  "lead  quiet  and  peaceable 
lives  in  all  godliness  and  honesty,"  would  famish 
surer  pledges  that  they  knew  how  to  value  the 
benign  influences  and  true  glory  of  good  govern- 
ment. True  liberty  is  a  quiet  and  noiseless  thing ; 
it  comes  ilke  the  gentle  dew  of  heaven.  Noisy  and 
turbulent  men  are  not  her  truest  friends.  The 
rights  of  man  are  in  better  keeping  than  in  the 
guardianship  of  those  who,  while  they  profess  to 
be  watching  them  with  a  vigilant  eye,  begin  a 
crusade  on  the  government  and  laws.  I  have  not 
much  confidence  in  these  high-sounding  pretensions, 

"  Timeo  Danaos,  et  dona  ferentes." 


IN  THE   HEBREW   COMMONWEALTH.  343 

"Their  words  are  softer  than  oil,  yet  are  they 
drawn  swords."  If  the  rights  of  man  are  exposed 
to  danger,  it  is  from  that  deficiency  of  public  vir- 
tue, that  want  of  real  patriotism,  that  disregard 
of  right,  which  expresses  itself  in  disobedience  to 
the  laws.  Such  attacks  as  these  are  an  assault 
upon  the  citadel;  and  if  encouraged,  we  may 
"  sing  a  requiem  over  the  tomb  of  liberty."  Men 
know  not  the  fury  of  the  flame  which  they  are 
thus  kindling;  nor  how  easily  it  is  ignited;  nor 
with  what  difficulty  it  is  extinguished.  When  it 
has  burnt  the  land  over,  and  made  it  a  desert,  and 
they  begin  to  mourn  over  their  own  infatuation, 
they  have  no  authority  left  them  to  say,  "  Hith- 
erto shalt  thou  come,  and  no  further."  It  is  the 
fury  of  the  mind,  and  not  policy,  or  conscience. 
"  Liberty  with  order,"  the  liberty  of  law,  this  is 
liberty.  I  rejoice  that  there  is  that  in  the  Ameri- 
can bosom  which  shrinks  instinctively  from  every 
species  of  tyranny,  and  which  is  not  deaf  to  "  the 
sighing  of  the  prisoner ;"  but  I  rejoice,  too,  that 
there  is  some  love  of  right, — some  remaining  love 
of  order. 

Another  means  by  which  the  principles  of  good 
government  are  depreciated  is,  the  complaint  of  the 
dissatisfied  and  restive,  that  the  laws  themselves  are 
arbitrary  and  unjust.  After  what  we  have  said, 
it  can  scarcely  be  needful  for  us  to  affirm,  that 
rulers  are  responsible  to  the  people ;  and  that  it  is 


344  THE  FIRST  REBELLION 

the  privilege  of  a  free  people,  with  the  calmness, 
impartiality  and  dignity  of  men  who  know  how  to 
estimate  the  blessings  of  good  government,  to  scru- 
tinize the  official  conduct  of  their  rulers.     To  limit, 
or  circumscribe  their  prerogative  of  discussing  the 
measures  of  the  government  and  the  equity  of 
its  laws,  is  but  preliminary  to  the  vilest  bondage. 
Through  all  the  channels  by  which  the  sense  of 
the  people  may  be  made  to  act  upon  those  who 
hold  offices  of  power  and  trust,  is  it  their  duty  to 
indicate  their  views,  and  make  their  influence  dis- 
tinctly felt.     This  is  one  of  the  checks  upon  the 
misapplication  of  power  which  they  have  in  their 
own  hand ;  while  it  is  at  the  same  time  one  of  the 
flues  by  which  the  pent-up  vapors  of  an  excited 
populace,  which  might  otherwise  explode  with  the 
force  of  an  earthquake,  are  let  off.     Yet  is  there 
great  caution,  and  more  practical  wisdom  than 
most   men   possess,    in   asserting    this   privilege; 
because,   more    especially   in    seasons    of   excite- 
ment, they  so  readily  throw  themselves  back  upon 
these  primordial  elements  of  their  social  organ- 
ization,   and   are   so   prompt   in   remedying   one 
evil,  even  though  it  be  by  the  production  of  a 
greater. 

It  may  not  be  forgotten,  that  those  who  form, 
and  those  who  administer  the  laws,  not  only  have 
a  most  arduous  work  to  perform,  but  a  most  un- 
grateful, as  well  as  responsible  trust.     They  have 


IN  THE  HEBREW   COMMONWEALTH  345 

need  of  wisdom,  self-denial,  and  firmness,  such  as 
do  not  always  fall  to  the  lot  of  men.  It  is  cause 
for  gratitude  to  the  God  of  nations,  that  amid  all 
their  local  peculiarities  and  institutions,  and  rival 
interests,  their  laws  are  so  wise.  Had  there  not 
been  great  wisdom,  experience,  and  integrity- 
brought  to  their  national  counsels,  as  well  as  a 
spirit  of  mutual  concession  and  compromise  which 
do  honor  to  the  heart  and  head  of  noble  men; 
many  a  fair  land  had  been  more  often  plunged 
in  all  the  horrors  of  civil  war.  The  kind  provi- 
dence of  the  Most  High  has  watched  over  them 
in  the  dark  hours  of  their  history,  and  but  for 
this  watchful  care,  our  world  would  have  been  a 
field  of  blood. 

The  best  government  in  the  world  may  be 
brought  into  disrepute,  if  the  people  allow  their 
minds  to  be  inflamed  by  the  artful  and  busy  sug- 
gestions of  its  foes.  When  Absalom  was  resolved 
to  subvert  the  throne  of  David,  his  artifices,  his 
wealth,  and  his  eloquence  were  employed  in  find- 
ing fault  with  the  men  in  power.  He  knew  too 
well  how  to  produce  dissatisfaction  in  the  minds 
of  the  people,  and  to  make  use  of  that  class  of 
troublesome  men,  enough  of  which  are  found  in 
every  community,  in  order  to  weaken  the  public 
confidence  in  the  government.  When  the  traitor 
Korah  raised  the  mutiny  against  Moses  and  Aaron, 
he  resorted  to  the  same  mean  artifice  of  diffusing 
15* 


346  THE  FIRST  REBELLION 

a  seditious  spirit  among  the  people.  Multitudes 
rallied  around  their  standard;  and  in  the  true 
spirit  of  anarchy,  they  never  relinquished  their 
purpose  until  the  earth  opened  and  swallowed 
them  up.  All  history  shows  that,  base  and  detest- 
able as  it  is,  there  is  a  remarkable  uniformity  in 
this  method  of  resistance  to  the  powers  that  be. 
It  is  an  easy  thing  for  a  single  turbulent  and  tal- 
ented man,  who  has  access  to  the  public  mind 
through  the  press,  or  through  the  pulpit,  or 
through  excited  assemblies  of  his  fellow-citizens, 
and  in  seasons  of  alarm  and  apprehension,  to  im- 
pugn the  character,  the  motives,  the  laws  of  civil 
rulers,  and  to  ascribe  real,  or  apprehended  calam- 
ity to  the  abuse  of  power.  The  object  of  this 
clamor  is  obvious ;  it  is  to  disunite  the  people,  to 
detach  their  affections  from  the  government,  and 
prepare  the  way  for  those  more  radical  agitations 
which  spread  discord  and  misery.  The  means 
does  indeed  seem  inadequate  to  the  end ;  but  ex- 
perience and  observation  teach  us,  that  no  weight 
of  reason,  and  no  power  of  worth  and  character 
can  stop  their  course. 

The  friends  of  good  government  sometimes 
count  too  much  on  the  good  sense  and  intelligence 
of  the  people.  When  a  distinguished  debater  in 
the  British  House  of  Lords,  closed  a  noble  speech 
in  favor  of  an  important  measure  of  the  govern- 
ment with  the  words,  "  My  appeal  is  to  the  good 


IN  THE   HEBREW   COMMONWEALTH.  347 

sense  of  the  people ;"  the  earl  of  Chesterfield  re- 
plied, "And  I  appeal  to  their  nonsense."  It  is 
not  to  the  good  sense  of  the  people  that  dema- 
gogues make  their  appeal.  Yet  is  the  good  sense 
of  the  American  people  the  great  hope  of  honest 
men.  We  have  never  seen  the  political  hori- 
zon so  dark,  but  light  has  broken  in  from  this 
quarter.  The  people  are  sound,  and  for  the  most 
part  incorruptible.  And  while  they  can  never  be 
very  long  blind  to  the  great  political  truths  we 
have  been  contemplating,  because  they  cannot  be 
long  deceived  in  relation  to  their  own  interests ; 
it  is  no  impossible  thing  that  they  may  open  their 
eyes  too  late.  Though  the  reign  of  delusion  may 
be  short,  it  may  be  long  enough  for  the  people,  in 
their  phrensy,  to  withdraw  their  confidence  from 
wise  and  able  statesmen,  to  forget  their  long-tried 
services,  and  marshal  themselves  under  some  leader 
of  sedition,  who  has  recklessness  enough  to  em- 
bark in  the  storm ;  or  who  has  not  discernment 
enough  to  see  the  danger ;  or  who,  if  he  foresee 
the  torrent  of  blood  which  may  flow,  steady  to 
the  purpose  of  his  aggrandizement,  calculate  that 
his  own  paltry  bark  may  float  upon  the  deluge 
and  settle  upon  high  places.  Thus  it  is  that  men 
sweep  away  the  foundations  of  public  safety  and 
happiness,  involve  nations  in  confusion,  and  fill  the 
world  with  consternation  and  distress.  And  when 
these  threaten  us,  it  is  time  for  all  classes  of  men 


348  THE  FIRST   REBELLION 

to  open  their  eyes  upon  their  danger,  and  to  be 
wide  awake  to  the  signs  of  the  times. 

In  our  concluding  observations,  we  have  more 
to  say  than  time  and  opportunity  would  justify  us 
in  uttering,  were  we  to  give  full  expression  to  our 
views  in  relation  to  the  present  position  of  our 
public  affairs.  If  we  have  the  moral  virtue  to  ap- 
preciate it,  we  have  the  best  government  in  the 
world.  The  venerable  framers  of  our  federal 
compact  were  among  the  wisest  of  men,  and  ac- 
complished as  much  as  human  wisdom  could  ac- 
complish to  combine  and  consolidate  the  various 
interests  of  all  classes  of  men,  and  the  various  in- 
terests of  the  several  states  into  one  common  and 
national  interest.  The  different  branches  of  the 
general  government  are  so  constituted  as  to  ope- 
rate as  a  check  and  control  upon  -each  other  in 
support  of  the  government  they  are  authorized  to 
administer ;  while  the  rights  of  the  several  states, 
in  the  enaction  of  their  own  laws,  the  framing  and 
support  of  their  own  institutions,  and  the  general 
conduct  of  their  own  local  and  domestic  interests, 
are  left  in  their  own  hands,  not  only  untouched, 
but  to  the  full  extent  in  which  they  do  not  inter- 
fere with  the  stipulations  of  the  common  confed- 
eracy, fortified  by  this  confederacy,  and  by  law 
entitled  to  the  countenance  and  support  of  the 
united  powers  of  the  land. 


IN  THE  HEBREW  COMMONWEALTH.  349 

Thus  far  in  our  history,  the  principles  of  this 
confederation  have  proved  effective,  not  only  in 
the  preservation  of  individual  liberty,  state  rights, 
and  the  authority  of  the  general  government,  but 
in  the  unrivalled  prosperity  of  the  people.  We 
are  under  better  advantages  than  any  other  peo- 
ple have  been,  to  appreciate  the  excellence  of  a 
republican  government,  when  wisely  and  faithfully 
administered.  We  can  testify  by  experience,  to 
its  mild  and  beneficent  influence ;  to  the  occupa- 
tion it. affords,  and  the  habits  of  industry  it  en- 
courages ;  to  the  excitement  of  intellect  it  calls  for, 
and  the  development  of  genius  and  talent  it  pro- 
motes ;  to  its  elevation  of  spirit,  its  high-minded 
valor,  and  its  augmenting  resources  ;  and  though 
last,  not  least,  to  the  religious  freedom  and  privi- 
leges it  secures.  We  have  seen  days  of  trial,  and 
have  survived  them;  stormy  conflict,  and  have 
breasted  the  storm.  Struggles  there  have  been 
between  the  different  branches  of  the  government 
itself;  struggles  between  some  of  the  states,  and 
between  the  state  governments  and  the  general 
government.  There  have  also  been  dissensions 
among  the  people,  and  local  complaints  because 
local  interests  were  disregarded ;  while  these  com- 
plaints and  struggles  have  served  to  draw  still 
more  closely  the  bonds  of  our  union,  and  exem- 
plify the  conservative  power  of  the  constitution 
under  which  we  have  so  eminently  prospered. 


350  THE  FIRST   REBELLION 

Yet  have  we  reached  a  crisis  of  deep  interest  in 
the  history  of  these  states.  The  time  has  come 
which  the  friends  of  law  and  order  have  often  pre- 
dicted, in  which  all  other  distinctions  ought  to  be 
lost  sight  of,  and  the  people  of  this  land  arrange 
themselves  as  the  friends,  or  the  enemies  of  good 
government,  in  accordance  with  their  honest  pur- 
pose to  support,  or  not  to  support  the  constitution. 
This  is  now  the  great  test  of  every  man's  political 
principles. 

Those  who  administer  the  government  have 
been  called  to  their  places  of  trust  by  the  voice 
of  the  people.  Whatever  department  they  oc- 
cupy, they  are  those  in  whom  the  majority  of 
the  nation  is  united,  and  to  whom  the  nation 
has  pledged  its  support.  They  have  been  called 
to  this  responsibility  under  circumstances  which 
have  put  to  the  test  both  their  moral  and  polit- 
ical integrity.  And  it  has  been  a  cheering  spec- 
tacle, to  see  men  venerable  for  age,  talent,  and 
character ;  men  separated  by  rivers  and  moun- 
tains; men  long  distinguished  by  strong  differ- 
ences of  political  opinion,  and  accustomed  to  the 
arena  of  political  chivalry;  simultaneously  and 
promptly  throwing  down  their  gloves  before  the 
common  enemy,  and  putting  their  lances  at  rest 
in  defence  of  the  commonwealth.  Never  since 
the  eventful  day  on  which  our  independence  of 
the  mother  country  was  declared,  has  it  been  more 


IN  THE   HEBREW   COMMONWEALTH.  351 

obvious  than  during  the  struggle  of  the  year  1850, 
that  sound  wisdom  and  discretion,  and  sweet  and 
heavenly  charity,  that  guardian  angel  of  our  union, 
was  hovering,  though  sometimes  with  fluttering 
wings,  over  our  honored  capitol.  Those  there  were 
who  would  fain  have  sundered  the  bonds  which 
hold  together  these  confederated  states,  even  at 
the  sacrifice  of  that  charter  of  our  hopes  which 
they  had  sworn  to  maintain ;  and  those  there  were, 
the  true  representatives  of  the  nation,  who  remem- 
bered the  struggle  and  the  compact  of  our  fathers, 
and  who,  filled  with  apprehension  for  the  still 
more  bitter  struggles  of  their  children,  proved 
themselves  true  to  their  oaths,  true  to  the  consti- 
tution, and  true  to  the  country.  And  God  pros- 
pered the  right. 

It  often  happens,  that  in  the  administration  of 
human  governments,  a  choice  of  evils  is  all  that  is 
left  to  human  wisdom.  Of  the  statute  of  the  last 
Congress,  in  regard  to  fugitive  slaves,  perhaps  it 
does  not  become  me  to  speak.  It  is  the  proper 
business  of  those  "  learned  in  the  law,"  to  interpret 
its  provisions,  and  decide  on  the  question  of  its 
constitutionality.  While  I  am  free  to  confess  that 
it  is  a  law  capable  of  great  abuse  in  the  hands  of 
a  partial  and  corrupt  court,  and  what  law  in  such 
hands  is  not  capable  of  abuse,  with  the  light  I 
have,  I  do  not  perceive  that  it  transcends  the  con- 
stitutional powers  of  the  national  legislature,  nor 


352  THE  FIRST  REBELLION 

am  I  now  prepared  to  impugn  its  rectitude,  or  its 
wisdom,  or  to  unite  with  those  who  defame  its  au- 
thors. Of  this  one  thing  I  am  convinced,  that  in 
the  circumstances  in  which  the  providence  of  God 
placed  them — with  the  constitution  on  the  one 
hand,  sanctioning  and  protecting  the  rights  of  the 
slave-holding  states,  and  the  reasonable  demand 
of  those  states,  that  these  rights  should  be  pro- 
tected; and  on  the  other  hand,  the  preservation 
of  our  union  as  a  federal  government,  and  the  ac- 
cession of  new  states,  free  from  the  evils  of  domes- 
tic slavery — they  did  as  their  fathers  had  done, 
the  best  that  was  left  to  human  wisdom  to  accom- 
plish ;  the  best  they  could  for  the  master  and  the 
slave,  for  the  north  and  the  south,  for  the  country 
and  for  the  world. 

The  morality  of  this  law  is  supposed  to  depend 
upon  the  question,  whether  slavery  is  itself  a  sin. 
The  subject  does  not  thus  present  itself  to  my  own 
mind.  Let  it  be  assumed,  for  the  sake  of  the  ar- 
gument, that  in  every  form  and  degree,  slavery  is 
a  sin  against  God.  Human  laws  allow  of  sin  ;  they 
must  allow  it,  or  adopt  a  system  of  perfect  legisla- 
tion, and  one  that  requires  all  that  is  right  and 
forbids  all  that  is  wrong.  But  this  is  not  the  ob- 
ject, nor  the  proper  business  of  human  laws ;  this 
is  the  high  prerogative  of  the  divine  law  and  the 
divine  law  alone ;  and  the  most  that  human  laws 
can  do,  after  having  adopted  those  rules  of  conduct 


IN  THE  HEBREW  COMMONWEALTH  353 

which  a  sound  policy  suggests,  is  to  turn  the  trans- 
gressors of  the  divine  law  over  to  their  responsi- 
bility to  the  Supreme  Lawgiver.  Why  the  sin  of 
slavery  should  embarrass  human  legislation  more 
than  other  sins,  remains  to  be  shown.  What  if 
there  are  states  in  this  union  which  are  allowed 
by  law  to  open  the  theatre  on  the  Lord's-day ;  or 
which  legalize  gambling,  or  incest,  or  polygamy ; 
has  the  general  government  any  official  and  au- 
thoritative concern  in  this  matter?  Such  laws 
are  sin ;  but  it  does  not  belong  to  the  general 
government  to  apply  the  remedy ;  it  is  an  affair 
of  their  own ;  it  lies  between  them  and  the  great 
Lawgiver,  nor  will  he  hold  them  guiltless. 

But  ought  we  not  in  all  fairness  to  look  at  the 
other  part  of  the  alternative?  Is  it  so  clear  a 
truth  that  slavery  is  a  sin  f  That  it  is  a  great  po- 
litical evil,  few  deny;  that  the  relation  between 
the  master  and  the  slave  may  be,  and  often  is  so 
abused,  as  to  stamp  the  master's  conduct  with  sin 
and  infamy,  will  not  be  called  in  question.  But 
this  does  not  prove  that  this  relation,  apart  from 
all  abuses,  and  oppression,  and  unkindness,  is  sin- 
ful. There  was  no  sin  in  Abraham's  being  a  slave- 
holder ;  for  if  there  had  been,  God  would  not  have 
directed  him  to  put  the  seal  of  his  covenant  upon 
his  slaves,  and  train  them  up  in  his  fear.  There 
was  no  sin  in  the  Jews  being  slaveholders ;  else 


354  THE  FIRST   REBELLION 

would  the  moral  law  never  have  legislated  on  the 
subject  of  slavery. 

It  is  not  a  little  surprising  to  see,  how  the  men 
"  of  one  idea"  will  allow  themselves  to  be  carried 
away  by  their  idol  thought.  It  does  not  require 
much  to  make  that  man  an  infidel,  who  permits 
his  confidence  in  the  sacred  Scriptures  to  be  shak- 
en by  the  fact  that  they  nowhere  condemn  slavery 
as  sinful.  That  they  do  not  so  regard  it  every  fair 
mind  must  concede.  There  is  no  getting  away 
from  this  fact,*  if  there  were  nothing  that  decides 

*  The  Hebrew  word  which  the  Septuagint  translates  <5«Xo?,  and  the  Greek 
cJsXos  as  used  in  the  New  Testament,  most  certainly  mean  slave.  Schleus- 
ner  says  it  denotes  homo  non  liber,  ncc  sui  juris.  In  Matthew  viii.  9,  xiii. 
27  and  28,  in  1  Cor.  vii.  21  and  22,  and  xii.  13,  it  is  used  in  opposition  to  the 
word  free.    For  the  classical  use  of  it  in  this  sense,  see  Schleusner's  Lexicon. 

Bretschneider  gives  the  same  view.  It  is,  says  he,  servus,  qui  sui  juris 
non  est,  cui  opponitur  b  c'XevSnpos.  It  is  homo  vilis  c.onditionis — homo  vilis 
— homo  libertate  voluntatis  privatus — subjectus,  ad  obedientiam  obstrictus. 

Donnigan,  who,  according  to  Hallam  in  his  History  of  the  Literature  of 
Europe,  appears  to  have  taken  more  pains,  and  to  have  enjoyed  greater 
facilities  in  the  preparation  of  his  Lexicon,  than  most  lexicographers,  trans- 
lates the  word  by  our  English  word  slave — slave  as  opposed  to  master.  The 
Greek  word  which  signifies  to  reduce  to  slavery ;  also  the  word  which  de- 
notes slavery,  the  condition  of  a  slave ;  also  the  word  which  denotes  a  lit- 
tle slave ;  also  the  word  which  denotes  servitude,  are  all  derived  from  the 
substantive  <?t.X«s. 

It  is  worthy  of  remark  also,  that  when  the  Scriptures  speak  of  servants 
who  are  not  slaves,  they  designate  them  as  hired  servants — ^sflwroi — mercc- 
narii.  See  Septuagint,  Exod.  xii.  45 ;  Lev.  xxii.  10  and  25,  vi.  40,  50  and 
53 ;  Deut.  xv.  8,  and  xxiv.  14.  Rosenmuller  defines  this  class  of  servants 
as  those  qui  in  domo  Israelite  pro  mercede  servunt.  The  words  which  de- 
note voluntary  service  of  different  kinds  are  altogether  different  <5»\oj ;  the 
\arpcvi  and  the  oikct^  were  not  always  slaves. 

Stephens,  in  his  Thesaurus,  puts  the  meaning  of  these  words  beyond  doubt 
See  these  different  words  in  locis.     If  Stephens  be  good  authority,  d*\os  ia 


IN  THE  HEBREW  COMMONWEALTH.      355 

it  besides  Paul's  Epistle  to  Philemon.  Onesimus 
was  a  fugitive  slave,  who  ran  away  from  Colosse 
to  Rome,  at  that  time  the  capital  of  the  world,  and 
the  resort  for  refugees  from  almost  all  lands.  Here 
he  became  a  converted  man  under  the  preaching 
of  Paul.  He  had  been  an  unprofitable  servant, 
but  was  now  profitable  to  Paul,  and  would  be 
equally  profitable  to  his  master.  Paul  might  have 
retained  him,  had  he  not  been  mindful  that  he 
was  bound  to  "  render  every  man  his  due."  One- 
simus was  still  a  slave,  though  he  had  become  a 
Christian  man.  He  was  bound  by  that  great  law 
of  Christianity,  "  Servants,  be  subject  to  your  mas- 
ters with  all  fear ;  not  only  to  the  good  and  gen- 
tle, but  also  to  the  froward;"  with  "good- will 
doing  service,  knowing  that  whatsoever  good 
thing  a  man  doeth,  the  same  shall  receive  of  the 
Lord,  whether  bond  or  free"  This  Apostle  was 
very  far  from  teaching  the  doctrine  that  Christi- 
anity was  inconsistent  with  slavery ;  and  that  from 
the  hour  in  which  a  man  becomes  a  Christian,  his 
mission  is  to  revolutionize  the  established  princi- 
ples of  social  order,  and  break  down  the  distinc- 
tions between  the  master  and  the  slave.  He 
therefore  required  Onesimus  to  return  to  his  rnas- 

servux — the  correllative  of  feBnoTm,  and  the  opposite  of  e\cn6cpos.  Xeno- 
phon,  Homer,  Plutarch,  Lucian,  and  other  classical  writers  referred  to, 
define  it  quasi  vinctus  vel  vincta  habens.  Notwithstanding  the  bold  asser- 
tions of  a  late  writer  in  the  New  Englander,  no  scholar  will  deny  that  the 
Greek  word  Moj  signifies  a  slave. 


356  THE   FIRST   REBELLION 

ter,  and  by  repairing  the  evils  of  his  former  neg- 
ligence, to  conduct  himself  as  a  faithful  servant. 
And  Onesimus  did  so.  He  put  into  practice  the 
precept,  "  Let  every  man  abide  in  the  same  calling 
in  which  he  was  called.  Art  thou  called  being  a 
servant  ?  care  not  for  it ;  for  he  that  is  called  in 
the  Lord,  being  a  slave,  is  the  Lord's  freeman? 

Paul  had  a  tender  regard  for  this  fugitive ;  he 
loved  him  as  one  of  the  favored  few  whom  he  had 
begotten  in  his  bonds.  He  calls  him  his  son  ;  and 
on  his  part  Onesimus  appears  to  be  no  less  at- 
tached to  Paul  as  his  spiritual  father.  Paul  no 
doubt  would  like  to  have  retained  him  near  his 
own  person,  that  he  might  have  ministered  to  his 
wants  during  his  tedious  captivity,  and  stood  by 
him  at  the  end  of  his  course.  Indeed,  he  says  as 
much,  when  he  writes,  "  Whom  I  would  have  re- 
tained with  me,  that  he  might  have  ministered 
unto  me  in  the  bonds  of  the  gospel."  But  he  saw 
that  this  would  have  been  wrong.  His  circum- 
stances were  peculiar,  and  he  determined  to  set  an 
example  to  the  church  at  Colosse,  and  to  the 
church  to  the  end  of  the  world,  what  was  the  duty 
of  a  Christian  man  under  such  circumstances. 
What  if  he  had  retained  him  ?  What  conclusions 
would  have  been  drawn  from  this  fact  at  the 
present  day  ?  And  what  conclusions  ought  we  to 
draw  from  it,  now  we  know  that  he  did  not  retain 
him  ?     Let  not  this  lesson  be  lost  upon  us.      Let 


IN   THE  HEBREW   COMMONWEALTH.  357 

this  Epistle  to  Philemon  "be  read,  and  let  those  who 
read  it  tell  us  why  it  forms  a  part  of  the  sacred 
volume.  It  inculcates  no  Christian  doctrine;  it 
has  no  object  but  to  enforce  the  lesson  that  Chris- 
tianity is  nicely  delicate  in  refraining  from  all  in- 
terference in  the  rights  of  others.  It  seems  to  us, 
that  one  reason  why  God  converted  Onesimus  was, 
that  he  might  be  thus  sent  back  to  his  master  a 
reformed  man,  and  thus  hand  down  the  truth  that 
Christianity,  however  much  it  may  meliorate  the 
condition  of  the  slave,  does  not  interfere  with,  but 
distinctly  recognizes  the  rights  of  the  master.  It 
is  perfectly  obvious  that  Onesimus  was  the  slave  of 
Philemon* 

*  I  am  happy  to  confirm  these  views  of  the  apostle  Paul  on  the  subject 
of  slavery  by  a  reference  to  the  views  of  the  late  Dr.  Buckmiii9ter,  of 
Boston,  who  was  one  of  the  most  accomplished  scholars  of  his  age. 
"  What  ideas,"  says  this  elegant  writer,  "  would  the  reader  of  this  letter 
to  Philemon  form  of  the  nature  and  spirit  of  Christianity  ?  I  think,  that 
even  from  this  short  epistle,  he  would  learn  to  reverence  and  love  the 
cause  which  could  form  such  men  and  dictate  such  sentiments.  Here  he 
would  see  the  distinctions  of  master  and  slave,  of  the  chief  apostle  and  his 
meanest  convert,  vanishing  in  their  common  relation  to  Jesus  and  his  gos- 
pel. Yet  in  remarkable  coincidence  with  the  doctrine  of  the  apostle  in 
other  epistles,  he  would  find  that  Christianity  made  no  alterations  in  the 
civil  or  political  relations  of  the  converts,  for  Paul  demands,  not  the  eman- 
cipation of  the  slave,  but  on  the  contrary,  returns  him  to  the  service  of  his 
master." — Buckminster's  Sermons. 

Our  Methodist  friends  may  also  learn  something  on  this  subject  from 
their  deservedly  esteemed  champion,  Dr.  Adam  Clarke.  In  his  commen- 
tary upon  the  Epistle  to  Philemon,  he  says,  "  The  Christian  religion  never 
cancels  any  civil  relations.  A  slave,  on  being  converted,  and  becoming  a 
freeman  of  Christ,  has  no  right  to  claim  on  that  ground  emancipation  from 
the  service  of  his  master.     Justice  therefore  required  St.  Paul  to  send 


358  THE  FIRST   REBELLION 

So  general  was  slavery  in  Greece,  that  in  the 
famous  war  of  Platea  there  were  but  5,000  Spar- 
tans and  35,000  slaves;  while  in  the  Spartan 
fleet,  they  composed  the  mass  of  the  sailors.  In 
Sparta  there  were  500,000  slaves  to  150,000  free- 
men. At  the  time  Paul  wrote  this  epistle,  Colosse 
was  under  the  proconsulship  of  Rome.  Slaves 
under  the  Roman  empire  were  the  most  abject  of 
slaves.  Single  masters  in  the  Roman  senate  had 
as  many  as  10,000,  and  some  as  many  as  20,000. 

Paulus  Emilius  sold  150,000  prisoners  of  war 
as  slaves,  and  Julius  Csesar  half  a  million.  Ac- 
cording to  Mr.  Gibbon,  they  comprised  one  half 
of  the  empire,  and  could  not  have  been  less  than 

back  Onesimus  to  his  master  ;  and  conscience  obliged  Onesimus  to  agree 
in  the  propriety  of  the  measure."  The  16th  verse  of  this  epistle,  says  he, 
"  refers  to  the  right  which  Philemon  had  in  Onesimus ;  he  was  a  part  of  his 
property,  and  of  his  family,  as  a  slave."  Again  he  says,  "No  servant 
should  be  taken,  or  retained  from  his  own  master,  without  his  master's 
consent."  The  learned  commentator's  counsel  to  his  Methodist  brethren  in 
New  York,  at  the  close  of  the  whole  is,  "  Reader,  go  thou  and  do  likewise." 

Dr.  McKnight,  in  his  literal  translation  and  notes  upon  this  epistle  says, 
"  Onesimus  was  Philemon's  slave.  It  belonged  to  Philemon  to  dispose  of 
his  own  slave  in  the  way  he  thought  proper.  Such  was  the  apostle's  re- 
gard to  justice  and  to  the  rights  of  mankind  Christianity  makes  no  alter- 
ation in  men's  political  state.  Onesimus  the  slave  did  not  become  a  free- 
man by  embracing  Christianity,  but  was  still  obliged  to  be  Philemon's  slave 
forever,  unless  his  master  gave  him  his  freedom. 

Dr.  Scott,  in  his  commentary  on  this  epistle,  also  speaks  of  Onesimus  as 
"the  slave  of  Philemon,"  and  his  "legal  property." 

Rosenmuller,  in  bis  "  Scholia  in  Epistolam  ad  Philemonem"  says,  "  Onesi- 
mus certe  scrvus  Philemonis  fait  a  domino  suo  profugus."  Remarking  upon 
the  15th  verse  he  says,  "  Ut  eum  retineas  pcrpe luo  servum  bonum,  tibique 
utilem." 


IN  THE  HEBREW  COMMONWEALTH  359 

sixty  millions.  As  a  body  of  men  they  were  con- 
sidered dangerous  to  the  state,  and  therefore  their 
bondage  was  severe.  They  were  the  most  unfor- 
tunate class  of  human  beings,  excluded  from  every 
privilege  of  society,  and  from  almost  every  bless- 
ing of  life.  They  were  entirely  at  the  disposal 
of  their  masters ;  torture  them,  maim  them,  or  put 
them  to  death  they  might,  and  be  amenable  to  no 
human  laws.  It  is  true  that  the  changes  which 
subsequently  took  place  in  the  moral  and  political 
condition  of  the  empire  greatly  meliorated  the 
condition  of  the  slave;  and  we  find  them  em- 
ployed in  honorable  occupations,  and  well  cared 
for.  But  it  was  not  until  the  time  of  the  emperor 
Adrian  that  masters  were  deprived  of  the  power 
they  possessed  over  their  slaves  in  the  days  of  the 
Republic  and  the  Caesars.  This  was  long  after 
Paul's  letter  was  addressed  to  Philemon. 

Here,  then,  in  view  of  the  character  of  Roman 
and  Grecian  slavery,  we  have  a  fact  of  some  conse- 
quence to  our  own  times.  No  less  a  man  than  the 
apostle  Paul,  writing  to  a  Christian  minister  in 
Phrygia,  at  a  period  of  the  Roman  empire  when 
slavery  existed  in  its  most  exceptionable  forms, 
sends  bach  this  fugitive  slave.  He  does  not  se- 
crete him;  he  does  not  tell  him  to  resist  the 
public  authorities;  he  does  not  "help  him"  to 
escape  his  bondage ;  he  sends  him  bach.  Modern 
abolitionists  would  have  branded  Paul  as  a  "  slave- 


360  THE  FIRST  REBELLION 

catcher."  But  there  his  character  stands  in  its 
high  and  unsullied  integrity  and  loveliness ;  not  as 
the  advocate  and  friend  of  Roman  slavery,  but  as 
the  friend  of  law  and  good  government.  He  was 
far  from  attempting  to  revolutionize  the  established 
principles  of  social  order.  If  there  were  evils  in 
the  Roman  empire,  the  way  in  which  he  desired  to 
remedy  them  was  by  preaching  the  gospel ;  by  dif- 
fusing its  spirit  of  love  and  gentleness,  and  leaving 
it  to  work  the  cure  of  evils,  by  the  gradual  meli- 
oration of  them,  which  he  knew  it  could  not  sud- 
denly remove.  And,  therefore,  he  says  not  a  word 
on  the  subject  of  slavery;  utters  not  a  hint  of  re- 
buke to  Philemon  for  being  a  slaveholder ;  not  one 
intimation  about  giving  Onesimus  his  freedom; 
but  simply  a  request  that  he  would  receive  and 
treat  him  as  a  Christian  man  ought  to  treat  a 
Christian  slave.  Would  that  Paul's  mantle  had 
fallen  on  all  the  ministers  of  the  gospel,  ami  that 
the  example  of  this  great  Apostle  might  speak 
in  these  ends  of  the  earth!  Slavery,  what  is 
it  ?  What  has  it  been  ?  what  is  it  now  ?  What 
is  the  slavery  of  the  South  compared  with  the 
tenfold  more  extensive  and  more  absolute  ser- 
vitude of  the  myriads  of  the  Russian  despot? 
What  is  it,  in  mental,  and  moral,  and  physical 
degradation  compared  with  the  condition  of  ope- 
ratives in  the  manufactories,  and  more  especially 
in  the  coal  mines  of  England  ?     Let  the  British 


IN  THE  HEBREW  COMMONWEALTH.  361 

quarterlies  answer  these  inquiries.  The  word  sla- 
very is  not  the  evil ;  it  is  the  amount  of  sin  and 
suffering  that  it  so  often  occasions  which  we  de- 
plore. And  if  this  be  the  evil,  the  most  judi- 
cious writers  on  the  other  side  of  the  water  in- 
struct us,  that  the  working  classes  of  Great  Bri- 
tain "have  as  great  an  amount  of  toil,  and  as 
few  bodily  comforts  to  remunerate  them  as  the 
slaves  of  ancient  Egypt  or  Rome."*  Cruelty  is 
always  sinful ;  slavery  not  always.  I  do  not  see 
how  any  Christian  can  affirm  that  slavery  under 
Christian  influences  is  sinful.  I  have  no  desire 
to  be  a  slaveholder ;  but  if  I  were  such  a  slave- 
holder as  Job,  Abraham,  and  Philemon,  my  con- 
science would  not  condemn  me.  If  all  masters 
were  like  these,  where  would  be  the  sin  of  sla- 
very? 

There  is  great  want  of  consideration  on  this 
subject  in  the  minds  of  some  who  are  otherwise 
wise  and  sober  men.  If  slavery  were'  a  sin  per  se, 
we  should  never  find,  in  the  New  Testament,  so 
many  counsels  to  masters  and  slaves  in  regard  to 
their  mutual  obligations.  A  northern  abolitionist 
could  not  go  into  the  Southern  states  and  address 
a  promiscuous  assembly  of  masters  and  slaves  in 
such  language  as  the  following: — "Let  as  many 
slaves  as  are  under  the  yoke  count  their  own  mas- 
ters worthy  of  all  honor,  that  the  name  of  God  and 

*  McCosh  on  the  Divine  Government. 
VOL.  II. — 16 


362  THE  FIRST  REBELLION 

his  doctrine  be  not  blasphemed.  And  they  that 
have  believing  masters,  let  them  not  despise  them, 
because  they  are  brethren;  but  rather  do  them 
service,  because  they  are  faithful."  Yet  the  direc- 
tion of  the  Bible  is  to  all  the  ministers  of  the  gos- 
pel in  such  circumstances,  "  These  things  teach  and 
exhort."  And  what  if  some  abolitionist  preacher 
had  protested  against  this  Christian  doctrine; — 
and  what  if  he  had  declared  that  slavery  is  a  sin, 
and  that  he  never  could  "  teach  and  exhort  such 
things  V  Let  us  listen  to  what  the  next  sentence 
addresses  to  such  a  man.  "  If  any  man  teach  oth- 
erwise, and  consent  not  to  ivholesome  words,  even 
the  words  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  to  the  doc- 
trine which  is  according  to  godliness  ;  he  is  proud, 
knowing  nothing,  but  doting  about  questions  and 
strifes  of  words,  whereof  cometh  envy,  strife,  rail- 
ings, evil  surmisings,  and  perverse  disputings  of  men 
of  corrupt  minds?  Could  the  Apostle  have  fur- 
nished a  more  graphic  description  of  modern  abo- 
litionists, than  in  these  few  words  ?  Are  not  such 
instructions  a  marvel,  if  slavery  is  necessarily  a 
sin  ?  And  what  shall  we  say  of  the  fugitive  slave 
law,  if  such  instructions  as  these  are  binding? 

Very  different  views  I  know  are  taken  of  this 
subject.  A  religious  paper  in  our  own  city,  not 
ouy  adopts,  but  justifies  itself  in  adopting  the  fol- 
lowing language: — "To  the  fugitives  themselves 
.  .      this  law  is  no  law  .  .  .  and  to  resist  it  even 


IN  THE  HEBREW  COMMONWEALTH.      363 

unto  death,  is  their  right,  and  it  may  be  their  duty 

To  each  individual  fugitive,  to  every  man 

or  woman,  who,  having  escaped  from  bondage  and 
tasted  liberty,  is  in  hourly  peril  of  being  seized 
and  dragged  back  to  slavery,  we  say, — Be  fully 
prepared  for  your  own  defence.  If  to  you  death 
seems  better  than  slavery,  then  refuse  not  to  die — 
whether  on  the  wayside,  at  your  own  threshold,  or 
even  as  a  felon  upon  the  gallows.  Defend  your 
liberty  and  the  liberty  of  your  wife  and  children, 
as  you  would  defend  your  life  and  theirs  against 
the  assassin.  If  you  die  thus,  you  die  nobly,  and 
your  blood  shall  be  the  redemption  of  your  race. 
Should  you  destroy  the  life  of  your  assailant,  you 
will  pass  into  the  custody  of  the  criminal  law  .  .  . 
under  an  indictment  for  murder ;  but  the  verdict 
of  the  community,  and  the  verdict  of  almost  any 
jury  will   be,  justifiable  homicide  in  self-defence 

Or  should  a  different  verdict  be  found, 

and  you  be  condemned  to  die  as  a  murderer,  your 
ignominious  death  shall  be  luminous  with  the  halo 
of  a  martyr,  and  your  sacrifice  shall  be  for  the  de- 
liverance of  your  people." 

It  would  seem  that  the  laws  of  the  land  are  lit- 
erally to  be  resisted  vi  et  armis.  And  what  is 
worse,  such  teaching,  if  we  have  been  rightly  in- 
formed, comes  from  the  lips  of  ministers  of  the 
gospel.  We  can  scarcely  believe  our  eyes  when 
we  read  such  things ;  and  when  we  read  them,  we 


364  THE  FIRST  REBELLION 

confess  we  feel  somewhat  as  Moses  felt  when  he 
fell  vpo?i  his  face  before  God's  throne.  Has  it 
come  to  this,  that  any  of  Christ's  ministers  are 
preaching  the  seditious  doctrine  of  open  resistance 
to  the  laws  of  the  land,  and  resistance  unto  blood! 
Is  it  so,  that  the  fugitive  slave  is  religiously  incited 
by  the  ambassadors  of  peace,  to  hill  and  slay,  rath- 
er than  submit  to  the  laws  of  the  land  ?  Is  this 
the  religion  of  the  Bible  ?  Is  this  the  teaching  of 
Christ  and  his  apostles  ?  Is  this  the  Christianity 
of  the  JVorth  ;  and  shall  our  Southern  friends  read 
such  things  and  say,  this  is  just  what  we  are  to  look 
for  from  Northern.  Christians  ?  If  so,  it  is  no 
marvel  they  advocate  a  disunion  of  the  states. 
"Who  would  bind  his  destiny  with  communities 
whose  religious  papers  are  the  hot-beds  of  bloody 
revolt?  It  is  well  for  this  piratical  navigator, 
that  he  does  not  show  his  colors,  and  that  if  he 
has  ecclesiastical  relations,  he  is  careful  to  con- 
ceal them.  "Stat  nominis  umbra."  It  some- 
times happens,  that  those  who  make  light  of  their 
obligations  to  the  Supreme  Lawgiver,  think  more 
seriously  of  their  responsibilities  to  their  fellow- 
men. 

For  myself,  I  fear  for  the  state  of  my  country, 
and  look  to  the  God  of  my  fathers  for  protection 
from  this  religious  frenzy,  and  for  the  wisdom  that 
is  profitable  to  direct  us.  My  countrymen,  where 
are  we  ?     In  what  land  do  we  live  ?      By  what 


IN  THE  HEBREW  COMMONWEALTH.  365 

sort  of  men  are  we  surrounded?  What  genius 
of  wickedness  is  this,  which  thus  utters  its  bloody 
counsels  from  God's  altars  ?  We  look  upon  such 
teaching  as  subversive  of  all  religious,  moral,  and 
social  obligations.  And  our  own  single  voice  is 
but  the  utterance  of  millions,  when  we  say  that 
there  is  yet  piety  enough  at  the  North,  and  wis- 
dom, and  patriotism,  and  fidelity  to  our  social 
compact,  to  disavow  such  wicked  and  mischievous 
counsels. 

In  the  memorable  struggle  for  our  national  in- 
dependence, it  is  well  known  that  we  were  not,  at 
first,  a  united  people.  There  was  slavery  in  the 
North,  as  well  as  in  the  South ;  but  it  was  the 
policy  of  the  North  to  eradicate  their  entire  sys- 
tem of  domestic  servitude.  In  that  event,  the 
slave-holding  states  of  the  South  would  be  exposed 
to  unfriendly  influences  from  the  free  states  ;  and 
before  the  South  would  consent  to  unite  heart  and 
hand  in  organizing  and  establishing  the  govern- 
ment we  now  enjoy,  they  demanded  of  the  North 
some  honest  pledge  that  their  rights,  as  slave-hold- 
ing states,  should  be  protected  by  the  proposed 
constitution.  The  North  had  been  the  great  slave- 
trading  community,  and  had  filled  the  Southern 
market  with  slaves ;  they  felt  the  force  of  the  ap- 
peal from  their  Southern  brethren ;  and  justice  to 
the  South  constrained  them  to  consent  to  that 
constitutional  protection  of  the  slave-holding  states, 


366  THE  FIRST   REBELLION 

which  lies  at  the  basis  of  that  subsequent  legisla- 
tion which  now  agitates  the  land.  The  compact 
was  a  bona  fide  compact;  and  without  it,  the  inde- 
pendence of  these  United  States  is  a  fact  that 
never  would  have  been  recorded  in  American 
history. 

I  demand  then,  in  the  name  of  common  honesty, 
if  we  are  not  religiously  bound  by  this  compact  ? 
When  our  fathers  pledged  their  fortunes,  their 
lives  and  their  sacred  honor  to  support  this  con- 
stitution, they  did  well;  in  the  sight  of  God,  they 
did  just  as  they  ought  to  have  done ;  and  we  do 
well  to  maintain  the  inheritance  intact  and  unsul- 
lied. If  I  understand  the  teachings  of  the  Bible, 
it  enjoins  upon  all  men  the  duty  of  being  faithful 
to  their  engagements.  It  places  "  covenant  break- 
ers1' in  the  same  category  with  the  boldest  trans- 
gressors and  the  most  mischievous  of  men.  I  shall 
be  greatly  disappointed  in  my  views  of  the  North, 
if  the  result  does  not  bear  me  out  in  saying,  on 
behalf  of  the  great  mass  of  Northern  men,  we 
are  no  truce-breakers.  We  are  honest  men,  and 
the  friends  of  good  order.  We  are  friends  of 
the  South,  and  make  no  war  upon  their  domestic 
institutions.  Whatever  reasons  we  may  have  had 
for  abolishing  slavery  among  ourselves,  their  do- 
mestic institutions  are  not  our  business.  We  are 
not  responsible  for  them,  even  if  they  are  wrong ; 
any  more  than  we  are  responsible  for  other  sins 


IN  THE  HEBREW  COMMONWEALTH.      367 

over  which  their  own  laws  have  the  exclusive 
control.  And  if  they  are  right,  what  have  we  to 
do,  in  interfering  with  them  ?  There  are  unreason- 
able and  misguided  men  among  us ;  but  the  South 
does  us  great  injustice,  if  it  allows  itself  to  believe 
that  these  men  are  the  true  indices  of  the  Northern 
character.  We  do  not  disturb  the  rights  of  the 
South.  To  the  free  colored  man  we  open  our 
doors  and  our  charities;  but  we  would  have  it 
understood,  that  the  North  is  not  the  place  for 
fugitive  slaves.  Some  of  them  are  no  doubt 
good  citizens ;  but,  prima  facie,  they  are  bad. 
They  are  a  trouble  to  us  ;  they  corrupt  our  popu- 
lation, overload  our  prisons,  are  a  nuisance  to  our 
almshouses,  and  had  better  be  at  home  where 
they  are  better  employed  and  better  governed. 
Nor  is  it  among  the  least  of  the  benefits  of  the 
"  Fugitive  Slave  Law,"  that  they  are  so  rapidly 
disappearing  from  the  midst  of  us.  Most  sincerely 
do  we  say  to  the  South,  keep  your  slaves  at  home ; 
and  forget  not  that  there  is  One  Being  in  the  uni- 
verse to  whom  you  are  responsible,  and  that  you 
also  have  a  Master  in  heaven. 

We  believe  these  to  be  the  general,  though  not 
the  unanimous,  views  of  the  North.  That  there 
should  be  a  difference  of  opinion  on  the  subject 
of  slavery,  does  not  surprise  us ;  but  that  there 
should  be  men  in  the  midst  of  us  who  adopt  ex- 
tensive measures  to  resist  the  government,  throw 


368  THE  FIRST  REBELLION 

the  land  into  confusion,  and  separate  what  God 
has  joined  together  by  a  common  descent,  a  com- 
mon language,  common  interests,  common  laws,  a 
common  honor,  common  intermarriages,  a  com- 
mon system  of  Christian  benevolence,  common 
churches,  common  rivers  and  railroads,  a  solemn 
compact,  sealed  by  the  blood  of  our  fathers,  rati- 
fied by  ourselves,  smiled  upon  by  the  God  of  prov- 
idence, and  envied  by  the  nations ;  cannot  be  ac- 
counted for  except  by  the  most  unaccountable  de- 
lusion. One  of  "  the  seven  things  which  the  Lord 
hateth,"  is  he  that  "  soweth  discord  among  breth- 
ren." We  deplore  such  divisive  measures.  If  we 
are  resolved  to  have  no  alliance  with  States  where 
slavery  is  countenanced  by  one  of  the  most  sacred 
of  earthly  compacts ;  to  show  them  no  favor,  and 
give  their  legitimate  claims  no  quarter ;  if  we  mean 
to  introduce  the  iron-bed  of  Procrustes,  and  make 
our  own  opinions,  whether  long  or  short,  the 
rigid  measure  of  theirs,  then  farewell  to  peace; 
"  instruments  of  cruelty  are  in  our  habitations." 

Men  talk  about  the  division  of  the  States ;  but 
Jwiv  is  this  division  to  be  effected?  Have  we 
at  the  North  forgotten,  that,  on  the  question  of 
slavery,  the  advantage  lies  with  the  South ;  that 
the  Constitution  recognizes  the  right  of  the  master 
to  the  service  of  his  slave ;  and  that  we  ourselves 
are  bound  by  this  Constitution,  so  long  as  we  form 
an  integral  part  of  the  Union  ?     Let  this  point  be 


IN-  THE  HEBREW   COMMONWEALTH.  3G9 

once  settled,  and  we  ourselves  have  no  alternative 
but  to  abide  by  the  Constitution,  or  secede  from 
tliese  confederated  States.  Why  should  the  South 
secede?  They  utter  no  complaints  against  the 
Constitution ;  and  only  ask  that  its  stipulations  be 
faithfully  observed.  Are  the  North  prepared  to 
assume  the  responsibility  of  seceding?  A  few 
may  be  prepared  for  it ;  misguided  and  misguid- 
ing men — men  who  are  prepared  for  anything; 
but  is  the  North  prepared  for  this  ?  Millions  of 
voices  respond,  God  forbid  that  any  such  reckless 
and  unhallowed  hands  should  invade  the  sanctu- 
ary of  our  sacred  Union !  Never !  No,  never,  till 
our  fathers'  God  abandons  to  national  suicide ! 
Every  feeling  of  humanity  echoes  the  response; 
the  echo  is  reverberated  by  our  solemn  oaths; 
nor  dare  we  appeal  to  a  higher  law,  with  this  oath 
upon  our  lips.  Conscience  affords  no  refuge  from 
this  dilemma. 

Besides,  has  the  nation  no  conscience?  and  is 
not  the  law  of  the  land  an  expression  of  the 
conscience  of  the  nation  ?  I  would  not  resist  the 
fugitive  slave  law,  even  if  it  scandalized  my  con- 
science. Much  less  should  I  be  excused  in  stim- 
ulating others  to  resistance,  unless  my  single  con- 
science is  more  enlightened  than  the  conscience  of 
the  wisest  and  the  best.  I  may  feel  that  I  am  right ; 
yet  other  men  have  a  conscience  as  well  as  myself. 
In  matters  of  high  national  interest  and  safety, 
16* 


370  THE  FIRST  REBELLION 

my  own  conscience  may  not  be  clamorous  in  the 
presence  of  the  higher  conscience  of  the  law  and 
the  nation.  For  myself,  I  would  quit  the  land  I 
love  so  well,  as  my  fathers  did  theirs,  rather 
than  dwell  where  I  could  not  conscientiously 
obey  its  laws,  or  be  the  instigator  of  rebellion. 
And  when  this  unbending  conscience  of  mine  has 
sought  a  refuge  in  other  lands,  and  finds  that, 
go  where  it  will,  there  are  evils  in  civil  govern- 
ment which  it  must  wink  at;  it  may,  perhaps, 
seek  out  a  land  where  there  is  no  law,  and  where 
every  man's  conscience  is  a  law  to  himself.  And 
if  I  shrink  from  this,  then  let  me  remain  an  obedi- 
ent subject  in  a  land  where,  by  the  testimony  of 
my  own  conscience,  the  laws  are  wiser  and  more 
equitable  than  in  any  other  country  on  the  globe. 
What  sane  man  would  wish  to  live  under  a  gov- 
ernment in  which  the  dictates  of  each  man's  con- 
science formed  each  man's  law?  There  may  be 
instances  in  which  the  conscience  of  the  one  or 
the  few  might  be  safely  trusted ;  but  if  we  look 
for  this  one  or  these  few,  shall  we  find  them 
among  those,  who,  upon  the  rights  of  private 
judgment  and  conscience,  build  the  right  of  re- 
volt and  resistance  to  authority  ? 

Conscience  has  its  claims  on  the  subject  of 
slavery.  It  instructs  us  that  we  should  be  kind 
to  the  slave.  We  owe  a  debt  of  justice  to  injured 
Africa   and  her  sons.      We  ought  to   meliorate 


IS  THE  HEBREW  COMMONWEALTH.  37 1 

their  condition  by  every  expedient  of  Christian 
love  and  wisdom.  And  this  every  Christian 
slaveholder  does ;  nor  are  we  always  sensible  to 
what  an  extent  the  slaves  are  thus  cared  for.  My 
own  conscience  is  pressed  with  the  question,  what 
can  be  ultimately  done  with  the  slaves  of  the 
South ;  but  for  myself,  I  have  no  such  conscience 
as  would  permit  me  to  give  them  their  freedom. 
I  have  no  hesitation  in  saying  that  it  would  be 
a  sin  at  once  to  set  them  at  liberty  ;  they  would 
be  friendless  and  homeless,  and  wander  as  vag- 
abonds in  the  earth.  There  is  not  so  miserable 
a  population  in  the  land,  as  the  fugitive  slaves, 
supported  by  charity  and  exposed  to  crime.  Could 
I  liberate  all  the  slaves  in  these  states  by  a  prayer, 
I  could  not  offer  that  prayer  in  love  to  the  slave. 
The  way  is  not  yet  prepared  for  so  wild  a  pro- 
ject as  the  immediate  abolition  of  slavery.  The 
British  government  made  the  experiment,  and 
perhaps  they  did  well  to  make  it.  But  by  its 
exacting  apprenticeship  it  has  been  ruinous  to 
the  slave ;  and  were  the  question  now  to  be  de- 
cided by  the  British  parliament,  in  the  opinion 
of  the  best  judges  in  England  and  Scotland,  the 
result  would  be  very  different  from  what  it  was 
before  experience  taught  them  that  a  sickly  sym- 
pathy and  an  ill-judged  philanthropy  sometimes 
miss  their  aims. 

Southern  slaveholders  have  consciences  as  well 


372  THE  FIRST   REBELLION 

as  other  men ;  and  they  ask  us,  to  tell  them  what 
to  do  with  their  slaves  ?  They  are  in  earnest 
in  this  inquiry,  and  their  language  is,  before  you 
declaim  so  unqualifiedly  against  slave-holding  as  a 

Sin,  TELL  US  WHAT  TO   DO    WITH    OUR   SLAVES.       Are 

you  not  bound  to  tell  them,  or  "  ever  after  to  hold 
your  peace  V  If  you  say,  emancipate  them ; 
thousands  are  willing  to  do  this ;  but  greater 
thousands  who  control  their  laws  forbid  their 
emancipation.  If  you  say,  emancipate  them  in  de- 
fiance of  the  laws  ;  the  consequence  is,  that  they 
become  the  property  of  the  law,  and  are  sold  to 
the  highest  bidder.  If  you  say,  send  them  to  the 
free  states,  the  free  states  will  not  receive  them. 
Indiana  will  not.  Ohio  will  not.  When  a  colony 
of  them,  freed  by  their  masters,  was  not  long  since 
sent  to  anti-slavery  Ohio,  that  high-minded  state 
would  not  give  them  a  place  for  the  soles  of  their 
feet.  Yet  these  very  people,  in  Congress  and  out 
of  Congress,  are  all  the  while  intent  on  the  infuri- 
ate cry  of  emancipation.  Is  it  to  be  wondered  at, 
that  such  things  as  these  are,  to  the  last  degree, 
galling  to  the  South  ? 

There  is  this  one  fact,  on  this  subject,  that  may 
not  be  overlooked.  The  slave-holding  states  are 
unhappily  placed  in  such  a  condition,  that  the 
slaves  must  be  either  slaves  or  masters :  and  that 
what  under  other  circumstances  seems  to  many 
persons  unkind,  falls  within  the  bounds  of  self- 


IN  THE  HEBREW  COMMONWEALTH.  373 

preservation.  This  burden  is  laid  upon  the  South, 
laid  upon  them  in  our  early  history,  not  by  their 
own  fault  only,  but  by  the  cupidity  of  Northern 
slave-traders.  Instead  of  being  goaded  to  phren- 
sy,  as  they  are  by  Northern  abolitionists,  they  have 
demands  upon  our  sympathy. 

There  are  men  among  us  who  are  deliberately 
prepared  to  dissolve  the  union,  rather  than  submit 
to  the  fugitive  slave  law  ;  this  doctrine  they  pub- 
licly avow  and  defend.  But  I  entreat  them  to 
consider,  if  this  would  he  kindness  to  the  slave. 
Will  the  slaves  become  freemen  by  such  a  measure 
as  this,  or  will  they,  by  such  a  course,  find  one 
link  of  their  bondage  broken  ?  What  if  such  a 
disunion  cannot  be  effected  without  a  civil  war, 
which  is  certainly  no  unreasonable  supposition? 
Can  an  enlightened  conscience  be  satisfied  with 
this  crusade  against  the  union,  if  it  should  thus 
prove  a  crusade  in  favor  of  slavery  ?  Again,  I' 
demand,  what  does  the  slave  gain  by  it  ?  What 
does  conscience  gain,  what  does  a  benevolent  spirit 
toward  the  slave  gain,  by  turning  this  land  into  a 
battle-field  ?  Is  this  sympathy  with  the  slave,  or 
is  this  washing  our  hands  of  the  sin  of  slavery  ? 
Where  will  the  poor  slaves  be,  when  this  work 
of  death  is  accomplished  ?  Nay,  fear  comes  upon 
me,  when  I  ask,  what  will  they  be  about,  while 
these  instruments  of  death  are  preparing,  and  this 
work  of  death  is  going  on  ?     Abolitionists  know 


374  THE   FIRST   REBELLION 

well  what  they  will  be  about,  because  they  foresee 
and  have  predicted  it.  They  will  just  he  cutting 
the  throats  of  their  masters.  Is  this  wise  ?  Is 
conscience  satisfied  with  this  ?  We  know  it  is  suf- 
ficiently cruel  to  the  master ;  but  is  it  kind  to  the 
slave  ?  After  all  the  wrongs  you  have  inflicted 
upon  him,  can  you  counsel  him  to  become  thus  a 
wholesale  murderer,  and  go  to  the  judgment,  and 
sink  to  perdition  thus  stained  with  blood  ? 

If  this  is  the  dark  side  of  the  picture,  look  then 
at  the  fairer  side.  Suppose  you  are  able  to  effect 
a  peaceable  disunion  of  the  states,  and  consent  to 
establish  a  distinct  southern  confederacy.  Do  you 
help  the  slave  by  this  ;  or  do  you  most  effectively 
rivet  his  bondage,  and  perpetuate  his  chains  ?  If 
by  allowing  such  a  confederacy,  you  could  secure 
the  abolition  of  slavery,  so  far  as  slavery  is  con- 
cerned, you  would  be  the  gainers  by  such  disunion. 
This  you  do  not  expect  thus  to  accomplish.  You 
gain  nothing  by  it ;  you  even  shut  the  door  against 
those  kind  influences  by  which  slavery  has  been 
so  rapidly  melting  away  in  the  Northern  States. 

Nay  farther,  if  when  these  states  are  once  di- 
vided, there  should  exist  any  international  inter- 
course between  them,  do  you  not  perceive  that 
no  treaty  could  be  formed  between  these  distinct 
confederations,  except  one  which  rests  upon  your 
acknowledgment  of  slave-holding  rights,  your 
engagement  to  protect  them,  and  your  obligation 


IN  THE   HEBREW   COMMONWEALTH.  375 

to  some  fugitive  slave  law,  which  would  place 
you  certainly  in  no  better  condition  than  you  now 
are  ?  There  is  no  possible  view,  in  which  the 
slave  population  would  be  the  gainers  by  a  sever- 
ance of  the  union.  It  is  no  easy  matter  for  us  to 
divine  what  it  is  that  abolitionism  is  seeking  after. 
Are  its  advocates  governed  by  the  law  of  love, 
and  doing  as  they  would  be  done  by  ?  To  us  it 
seems  that  it  is  high  time  for  this  mad  spirit  to 
take  counsel  of  conscience.  It  would  have  a  mel- 
ancholy triumph  in  the  severance  of  the  union.  It 
will  have  done  its  work  then ;  and  what  it  has 
been  doing  for  a  series  of  years — unwittingly  have 
made  the  land  of  freedom  the  permanent  house 
of  bondage. 

But  it  is  not  the  bright  side  of  the  picture,  that 
we  are  allowed  to  look  at.  Separate  these  states, 
peaceably,  or  not  peaceably ;  and  you  draw  an  air 
line  steeped  in  blood.  You  establish  a  thousand 
cities  of  refuge  for  the  fugitive  slave  at  the  North, 
by  which  you  augment  the  vigilance  of  his  owners 
and  his  own  bondage,  and  you  commence  a  bor- 
der warfare,  where  mutual  hatred  and  recrimina- 
ting, retaliating  vengeance  will  perform  their  ac- 
cursed work.  Nay  more ;  you  lay  open  the 
different  sections  of  the  land  to  those  foreign  alli- 
ances which  will  embroil  other  nations,  and  invite 
the  English  lion  and  the  Russian  eagle  to  their 
prey. 


376  THE  FIRST  REBELLION 

There  is  one  thought  more  which  I  may  not 
suppress.  "  Charity  seeketh  not  her  own."  Chris- 
tian love  values  the  whole  more  than  a  part.  The 
slave  population  of  this  land  has  cost  us  dear  al- 
ready. It  has  cost  us  time  and  money  that  ought 
to  have  been  better  employed ;  it  has  cost  us  di- 
vided counsels,  mutual  love  and  confidence,  embit- 
tered feelings,  and  unsleeping  jealousy.  It  may 
cost  us  the  peace  and  prosperity  of  the  fairest 
land  on  which  the  sun  shines.  In  the  name  of 
that  charity  which  "  worketh  no  ill  to  his  neigh- 
bor," I  ask,  has  it  not  cost  us  enough?  Shall  we 
sacrifice  the  harmony,  the  good  faith,  the  honor 
of  these  states  for  the  fugitive  slave  ?  To  me  it 
seems,  this  is  asking  too  much.  Our  fathers  lav- 
ished their  blood  and  treasure  to  very  little  pur- 
pose, if  the  prosperity  of  these  states  is  to  be  thus 
disturbed.  I  have  yet  to  learn  from  the  Bible 
that  I  must  become  a  rebel  against  the  govern- 
ment which  protects  me,  and  array  myself  with 
the  enemies  of  my  country,  in  order  to  protect  a 
fugitive  slave.  So  long  as  it  is  the  law  of  the 
land,  I  will  stand  by  the  "  Fugitive  Slave  Law." 
I  am  willing  to  meet  the  issue  even  in  the  strong- 
est case,  and  one  which  none  but  a  blinded  con- 
science and  a  sophistical  reasoner  would  present, 
and  say,  I  love  my  country,  and  love  her  laws 
more  than  I  love  the  fugitive  slave.  He  may 
have  been  unrighteously  brought  to  our  shores ; 


IN  THE  HEBREW  COMMONWEALTH.  377 

but  I  am  not  responsible  for  that  unrighteousness. 
He  may  be  a  sufferer ;  but  I  am  not  under  obliga- 
tions to  relieve  the  suffering,  if  by  so  doing  I  pro- 
duce a  greater  amount  of  suffering.  For  the 
crushed  and  deserted  African,  I  would  do  and 
suffer  much,  if  thereby  I  could  make  him  better 
and  more  happy.  But  it  is  a  deplorable  fact,  that 
the  African  race  has  for  ages  presented  the  most 
discouraging  field  for  the  efforts  of  the  Christian 
church.  True  religion  has  never  flourished  among 
them,  and  they  remain  to  this  day  almost  entire 
strangers  to  Christianity.  We  have  no  doubt, 
that  under  the  reign  of  Jesus  Christ,  they  will  be 
elevated  to  the  true  worship  of  God ;  nor  can  we 
suppress  the  hope,  that  the  early  curse  pronounced 
upon  them  will  be  alleviated.  But  we  cannot  for- 
get that  there  is  a  judicial  harrier  between  them 
and  the  two  other  races.  We  are  far  from  as- 
serting that  there  is  any  inferiority  of  nature,  or 
original  deficiency  of  intellect  in  the  posterity  of 
Ham.  There  is  no  evidence  of  this.  Had  we  our- 
selves, for  three  thousand  years,  been  "  the  com- 
mon spoil  of  the  world,"  and  subjected  to  their 
degradation,  I  much  doubt  if  we  should  have  risen 
higher  in  intellect  than  they.  We  cheerfully  give 
them  this  intellectual  equality;  but  we  cannot 
rescue  them  from  the  ancient  curse.  We  have 
given  them  the  gospel ;  nor  have  we  any  doubt 
that  a  brighter  day  will  arise  upon  them.     "  Ethi- 


3*78  THE  FIRST  REBELLION 

opia  shall  soon  stretch  out  her  hands  unto  God  f 
but  she  shall  be  Ethiopia  still.  If  I  read  the  curse 
denounced  against  her  rightly,  and  as  all  the  com- 
mentators to  whom  I  have  had  access  read  it,  even 
in  the  millennium  she  will  be  the  subordinate  and 
serving  race.*     While,  therefore,  God's  purposes 

*  See  all  the  Commentaries.  I  quote  two  passages  from  Adam  Clark. 
Gen.  ix.  25.  "  God  had  wise  and  powerful  reasons  to  induce  him  to  sen- 
tence the  descendants  of  Ham  to  perpetual  servitude."  Josh.  ix.  23.  "  Did 
not  the  curse  of  Ham  imply  slavery  and  nothing  else  ?  Does  it  not  suf- 
ficiently appear  that  nothing  else  than  perpetual  slavery  is  implied  in  the 
curse  of  the  Gibeonites  ?  Those  of  the  Canaanitish  race  who  would  not 
renounce  their  idolatry  were  to  be  extirpated  ;  those  who  did  were  to  be 
preserved  alive,  on  condition  of  their  becoming  tributary  and  serving  as 
slaves." 

This  view  of  the  curse  upon  Canaan  has  been  questioned,  I  believe,  by 
none  but  infidels.  Did  God,  it  has  been  asked,  employ  this  "  drunken  sin- 
ner," just  awakened  from  his  wine,  to  utter  the  language  of  prophecy  ?  To 
this  scurrilous  demand,  I  answer,  God  has  employed  wicked  men  to  utter 
truths  and  predictions  that  have  been  fulfilled ;  he  so  employed  Balak. 
But  I  reply  again,  Noah  was  no  "  drunken  sinner."  See  the  commentators 
on  the  passage  which  speaks  of  his  conduct.  Listen  to  God's  testimony 
also,  "  And  the  Lord  said  unto  Noah,  Come  thou  and  all  thy  house  into 
the  ark  ;  for  thee  I  have  seen  righteous  before  me  in  this  generation"  The 
Apostle  Paul  speaks  of  him  in  the  following  language  : — "  By  faith  Noah, 
being  warned  of  God  of  things  not  seen  as  yet,  moved  witli  fear,  prepared 
an  ark  to  the  saving  of  his  house ;  by  the  which  he  condemned  the  world, 
and  became  heir  of  the  righteousness  which  is  of  faith." 

The  author  has  made  this  reference  to  the  curse  upon  Ham,  because  it 
is  God's  truth ;  the  truth  of  that  God  who  is  himself  the  great  and  essen- 
tial charity.  That  he  is  not  mistaken  in  his  views,  he  is  led  to  believe  from 
the  perfect  conformity  of  all  the  commentators  to  which  he  has  access,  in 
the  views  he  has  expressed.  Henry,  Scott,  Clark,  Patrick,  Poole  in  his 
Synopsis,  and  Rosenmuller  all  give  the  same  view  of  the  passage.  And 
is  not  the  interpretation  abundantly  verified  by  historical  facts  ?  Men 
•who,  merely  from  their  sympathy  with  the  colored  race,  cast  contempt 
upon  this  prediction,  must  be  driven  to  infidelity.     In  the  relations  of  this 


IN  THE  HEBREW  COMMONWEALTH.      379 

are  not  the  rule  of  human  conduct,  and  no  excuse 
for  human  wickedness,  we  may  not  be  heedless 
observers  of  his  providence,  nor  rashly  enter  into 
a  controversy  with  him  at  the  peril  of  the  descend- 
ants of  Shem  and  Japheth.  We  may  contend  for 
the  Ethiopian  race,  and  contend  for  them  till  the 
land  is  covered  with  gore  and  dismembered  ;  but 
there  the  record  will  stand,  "  God  shall  enlarge 
Japheth,  and  he  shall  dwell  in  the  tents  of  Shem, 
and  Canaan  shall  be  his  servant." 

I  have  done.  I  may,  perhaps,  be  criminated 
for  this  interference  with  a  subject  which  seems 
to  fall  more  directly  within  the  province  of  the 
legislator  and  the  statesman.  Be  it  so.  For  hu- 
manity's sake  and  for  truth's  sake,  I  have  spoken. 
Happy  for  the  country,  had  there  been  no  call  for 
us  to  travel  out  of  our  appropriate  sphere.  While 
the  men  in  England  and  the  men  from  Scotland, 
who  are  always  harping  on  the  subject  of  Ameri- 
can slavery,  are  playing  a  game  in  this  country 
sufficiently  obvious  to  reflecting  men ;  and  while 
they  are  encouraged  in  their  seditious  spirit  by  so 
many  of  the  unreflecting  among  ourselves,  we  may 

general  truth  to  the  question  of  American  slavery,  a  bold  writer  in  one  of 
our  public  papers,  says,  "  If  this  be  Christianity,  is  it  not  a  virtue  to  reject 
it?  If  these  are  the  authentic  expounders  of  the  will  and  word  of  Christ, 
let  us  turn  to  Mohammed  and  the  Gentiles.  If  it  be  the  work  of  God  to 
keep  our  brethren  in  chains,  knowing  no  motive  but  the  lash,  no  hope  but 
death  or  escape,  and  then  to  replunge  them  into  the  hell  they  have  fled 
from  to  us — then  let  us  diligently  k?iow  and  endeavor  to  do  the  will  of  the 

DEVIL." 


380  THE  FIRST  REBELLION,   ETC. 

not  keep  silence.  I  have  lived  long  enough  to  see, 
that,  on  the  great  subject  of  republican  liberty,  the 
United  States  are  at  issue  with  the  world ;  and  that 
if,  on  this  question  of  slavery,  they  can  triumph 
over  us  as  a  divided  people,  they  will  have  given 
the  finishing  stroke  to  civil  and  religious  freedom. 
The  crisis  has  come.  The  eyes  of  the  world  are 
upon  us.  If  completed  at  all,  the  tragedy  will  be 
completed  soon.  These  are  not  groundless  fears. 
There  is  a  deep  current  setting  the  wrong  way ; 
and  men  are  not  wanting  who  know  well  how  to 
avail  themselves  of  it,  both  for  ecclesiastical  and 
political  ends.  Our  most  important  interests  are 
at  stake ;  and  if  we  are  undone,  we  shall  deserve 
our  chains.  Our  only  hope  is  in  Him,  whose 
province  it  is  to  frustrate  the  destructive  coun- 
sels of  men,  to  change,  or  defeat  their  purposes, 
and  not  suffer  any  weapon  formed  against  us  to 
prosper. 


CONCLUSION. 

It  has  been  the  main  object  throughout  the 
preceding  chapters,  not  simply  to  address  the  un- 
derstanding, but  to  present  such  a  view  of  truth 
as  should  be  adapted  to  influence  the  conscience, 
the  heart,  and  the  deportment.  How  far  this  ob- 
ject has  been  attained,  and  with  what  intentions 
it  has  been  pursued,  will  become  the  subject  of  a 
solemn  scrutiny  when  both  the  writer  and  the 
reader  shall  appear  before  the  Son  of  Man.  In  all 
these  lessons  so  early  revealed,  there  are  two  grand 
subjects  which  occupy  a  prominent  place : — God 
and  Man.  In  their  relations  and  dependencies, 
these  constitute  the  most  interesting  topics  within 
the  circle  of  moral  science.  There  is  one  thought 
in  relation  to  them  which  it  has  been  the  desire 
of  the  writer  to  keep  in  view  throughout  the 
whole ;  and  that  is,  That  by  all  the  exhibitions 

OF  DIVINE   TRUTH,  MAN  IS  HUMBLED  AND  GoD  IS  EX- 
ALTED. 

In  all  the  preceding  discussions,  we  have  found 


382  CONCLUSION. 

no  truth  that  does  not  give  man  a  low  place. 
Much  indeed  has  God  done  for  man ;  but  at  «very 
step  of  our  progress,  the  reflection  must  have  forced 
itself  upon  us,  "Lord,  what  is  man  that  thou  art 
mindful  of  him,  and  the  son  of  man  that  thou  vis- 
itest  him  ?" 

Man's  very  existence  is  a  borrowed  and  created 
existence,  and  could  not  be  continued  an  hour 
without  the  sustaining  hand  of  God.  His  depend- 
ence is  so  absolute  and  constant,  that  should  God's 
sustaining  agency  be  withdrawn,  he  would  instantly 
drop  into  annihilation.  He  acts  not,  lives  not  with- 
out the  divine  concurrence  and  visitation.  What 
men  shall  be,  and  what  they  shall  do ;  with  what 
powers  they  shall  be  invested;  what  opportuni- 
ties they  shall  enjoy,  and  what  condition  they  shall 
occupy;  what  views  they  shall  form,  and  what 
plans  they  shall  carry  into  effect ;  what  motives 
of  action  shall  be  set  before  them,  and  what  influ- 
ence they  shall  have  upon  their  affections  and  con- 
duct; in  what  pursuit  they  shall  engage,  and 
what  character  they  shall  possess :  is  so  absolutely 
under  a  governing  providence,  that  no  man  can 
predict  his  character,  condition,  or  destiny,  or  fore- 
tell what  awaits  him  the  next  moment,  or  what  will 
be  his  next  thought.  They  are  not  even  their  own 
property,  but  belonging  absolutely  and  unalienably 
to  another,  and  accountable  to  him  universally  and 
forever. 


conclusion.  383 

The  race  is  also  a  depraved  and  corrupt  race. 
Every  principle  of  revealed  religion  considers  the 
human  family  in  a  state  of  utter  ruin.  From  the 
first  moment  of  their  existence  as  men,  the  young- 
est and  the  oldest,  the  lowest  and  the  highest, 
every  individual  without  exception,  is  represented 
in  the  Bible  as  having  violated  the  law  of  God,  and 
disregarded  his  rights  as  Creator  and  Governor, 
and  his  obligations  as  creatures  and  subjects.  The 
Bible  affects  no  concealment  of  the  moral  turpitude 
of  men,  but  speaks  of  it  in  terms  humbling  and  re- 
proachful, condemns  it  as  "  abominable  and  filthy," 
and  represents  it  so  odious  and  detestable  as  to  de- 
serve the  wrath  and  curse  of  God  both  in  this  life 
and  in  that  which  is  to  come.  So  imbedded  is  the 
human  heart  in  wickedness,  that  left  to  its  own 
uninterrupted  tendencies,  its  infallible  and  neces- 
sary consequence  is  all  the  plagues  of  the  second 
death. 

When  from  degradation  like  this  we  survey  the 
method  by  which  creatures  so  sinful  and  con- 
demned, are  rescued  from  guilt  and  condemna- 
tion, there  are  even  here  the  strongest  marks  of 
human  vileness.  The  Scriptures  reveal  the  pur- 
pose of  God  to  save,  but  it  is  by  the  humbling 
method  of  a  pure  forgiveness.  This  method  of 
mercy  does  not  even  excuse  or  mitigate  their  re- 
bellion ;  does  not  invest  them  with  any  personal 
claims  on  the  divine  favor,  nor  consider  that  any 


384  CONCLUSION. 

injustice  would  be  done  them,  if  God  should  curse 
them  forever.  Their  personal  ill-desert  is  never 
obliterated,  either  in  this  world,  or  the  world  to 
come.  The  very  grace  that  redeems  them  sets 
before  them  the  turpitude  of  their  iniquity,  con- 
demns all  their  self-justifying  excuses,  sweeps  away 
all  their  refuges  of  lies,  prostrates  them  in  the  dust, 
and  there  presents  them  with  a  free  and  full  for- 
giveness, for  which  they  give  no  equivalent,  and 
which  is  mere  mercy  from  first  to  last.  Such  a 
salvation, — while  it  is  a  blessed,  is  a  most  reproach- 
ful salvation  to  sinners,  because,  though  it  saves  to 
the  uttermost,  it  fixes  on  the  saved  the  stigma  of 
a  well-earned  perdition.  Men  do  not  naturally 
fall  in  with  such  a  salvation ;  and  the  reason  why 
it  is  so  often  rejected,  is  that  the  despisers  of  mer- 
cy cannot  consent  to  abase  themselves  so  low,  as 
such  a  method  of  salvation  abases  them. 

The  truths  we  have  contemplated  also  make  it  ne- 
cessary that  all  who  are  pardoned,  should  themselves 
possess  an  humble  spirit.  They  not  only  view  men 
as  lost  and  condemned,  but  make  it  indispensable 
to  their  salvation,  that  they  should  see  and  ingen- 
uously confess  their  pollution  and  guilt.  Among 
the  revealed  conditions  of  pardoning  mercy  is  the 
spirit  which  prostrates  them  as  low  in  their  own 
estimation  as  they  are  in  the  view  of  God  and  his 
holy  law ;  nor  are  they  ever  in  a  state  of  mind  to 
welcome  this  salvation  without  the  spirit  of  ingen- 


CONCLUSION.  385 

nous  self-loathing  and  self-abhorrence.  No  man 
can  see  his  need  of  mercy,  until  he  sees  he  is  con- 
demned by  justice  ;  no  man  can  feel  his  need  of 
mercy,  until  he  feels  he  is  condemned  by  justice; 
no  man  can  accept  of  mercy,  until  he  cordially  ap- 
proves of  justice.  This  is  the  self-abasement  to 
which  the  Bible  sinks  them,  and  to  which  they 
sink  themselves. 

To  augment  their  humiliation,  the  whole  scope 
of  the  Scriptures  instructs  us,  that  God  extends  his 
mercy  toward  them  only  for  the  sake  of  another. 
Such  is  the  united  testimony  of  Moses  and  the 
prophets,  of  Christ  and  the  apostles.  The  sole 
ground  of  pardon  and  acceptance,  is  the  atoning 
blood  and  justifying  righteousness  of  Jesus  Christ. 
If  we  inquire  through  whom,  or  for  whose  sake, 
or  on  whose  account,  the  righteous  Lawgiver  jus- 
tifies ;  to  this  inquiry,  the  divine  Oracle  gives  but 
one  answer.  It  is  not  from  respect  to  anything 
done  by  men  themselves,  but  entirely  from  respect 
to  the  character  and  work  of  Jesus  Christ.  Here, 
then,  the  truth  of  God  again  casts  apostate  man 
into  the  depths  of  humiliation.  What  can  be 
more  mortifying  to  his  pride,  than  to  be  made 
the  recipient  of  the  divine  favor  as  the  gift  of 
mere  mercy ;  and  that,  too,  in  a  way  which  not 
only  recognizes  his  utter  ill-desert,  but  so  far  from 
making  any  account  of  his  virtues  and  goodness 
as  the  ground  of  his  acceptance,  has  an  exclusive 

VOL.  II. — lY 


386  CONCLUSION. 

regard  to  the  interposition  of  another?  "The 
lofty  looks  of  man  are  thus  humbled,  and  the 
haughtiness  of  man  bowed  down."  Thus  low 
does  the  truth  of  God  humble  proud  man.  He  is 
humbled  in  his  loftiest  exaltation,  and  exalted  only 
in  his  deepest  humility.  O  what  contempt  is 
poured  upon  all  the  glory  of  man  by  the  truths 
of  the  Bible  "  that  no  flesh  may  glory  in  God's 
presence !" 

Yet  is  there  a  delightful  counterpart  to  this 
truth.  In  humbling  man,  we  exalt  God.  We 
have  desired  to  give  God  his  proper  place,  and 
not  only  to  represent  him  as  the  greatest  and 
best,  and  most  exalted  being  in  the  universe,  but 
to  bring  out  to  the  view  of  men  his  existence, 
government,  and  glories.  We  have  represented 
him  as  the  great  First  Cause  and  Last  End  of  all 
things ;  from  everlasting  inhabiting  his  own  high 
and  holy  place, — the  sole  proprietor  of  that  im- 
measurable continent,  that  shoreless  ocean, — the 
exclusive  inhabitant  of  a  duration  without  begin- 
ning and  without  end,  and  the  exalted  being  who 
possesses  in  his  own  existence  a  mysterious,  mighty, 
inconceivable  Eternity.  We  see  him  clothed  with 
every  attribute  both  of  natural  perfection  and 
moral  excellence ;  elevated  above  all  the  grossness 
of  matter,  and  concentrating  all  the  intellect,  vo- 
lition, and  activity  of  a  pure,  perfect  and  infi- 
nite Spirit.     We  see  his  will  invested  with  om- 


CONCLUSION.  387 

nipotence,  and  his  every  volition  clothed  with  an 
agency  beyond  the  reach  of  resistance,  obstruc- 
tion, or  control.  We  see  this  uncreated  Spirit 
everywhere  present  in  the  essence  of  his  nature, 
the  extent  of  his  knowledge,  and  the  ubiquity  of 
his  influence.  We  see  him  glorious  in  holiness ; 
and  how  the  unchanging  impulse  of  his  infinite 
mind  is  to  love  that  which  is  right,  and  accomplish 
that  which  is  best.  We  see  how  holy,  how  awful, 
how  amiable  and  how  glorious  is  his  justice,  and 
how  its  severest  illustrations  secure  and  perpetu- 
ate the  safety  and  welfare  of  his  universal  king- 
dom. We  see  how  munificent,  how  tender,  how 
unutterably  condescending  is  his  mercy,  and  what 
ineffable  loveliness  is  discovered  in  this  highest 
expression  of  his  benevolent  nature.  And  in  all 
this,  we  see  "  no  variableness,  nor  shadow  of  turn- 
ing ;"  while  everything  else  is  subjected  to  muta- 
tion and  decay,  their  very  mutability  do  but  il- 
lustrate and  magnify  his  own  divine  immutability 
and  faithfulness. 

We  have  taken  a  glance  at  his  wisdom,  power 
and  love  in  the  creation  and  government  of  the 
universe ;  spreading  out  the  heavens  as  a  curtain, 
and  the  earth  as  a  tent  to  dwell  in ;  filling  the 
earth,  the  air,  and  the  waters  with  their  appropri- 
ate inhabitants,  and  diffusing  his  wondrous  glory 
over  the  immense  fabric  of  created  existence. 
We  have  read  his  law — his  righteous  and  authori- 


388  CONCLUSION. 

tative  law — precepts  that  are  pure,  prohibitions 
that  are  reasonable,  penalties  and  sanctions  that 
his  own  character  and  the  character  of  his  subjects 
required  him  to  prescribe;  and  how  he  has  es- 
tablished a  government  in  the  consciences  of  his 
accountable  creatures,  which,  while  it  enjoins  on 
them  subjection,  gives  a  moral  dignity  to  him  in 
which  every  holy  mind  rejoices.  We  have  also 
beheld  him  at  the  head  of  a  most  efficient  admin- 
istration, and  maintaining  a  supremacy,  a  sover- 
eignty, which  leads  him  to  "  do  according  to  his 
will  in  the  armies  of  heaven  and  amid  the  inhab- 
itants of  the  earth,"  and  which  imparts  the  splen- 
dors of  uncreated  royalty  to  his  throne.  In  this 
administration,  we  have  seen  him  disclosing  the 
operations  both  of  an  universal  and  particular 
providence,  himself  deciding  the  visible  superior- 
ity and  inferiority  of  all  his  creatures,  both  as  it 
respects  their  condition,  their  intelligence,  their 
moral  character,  and  their  final  destination ;  and 
thus  magnifying  his  own  great  and  adorable  su- 
premacy in  his  "most  holy,  wise,  and  powerful 
governing  all  his  creatures  and  all  their  actions." 
We  have  seen  how  his  almighty  and  invisible 
agency  sustains  all  worlds ;  and  how  the  life  and 
breath  which  animate  the  living  population  of  the 
universe,  are  the  hourly  infusion  of  his  all-pervad- 
ing presence ;  and  how  he  lives  in  everything  that 
lives.     We  have  seen  him  observing  with  a  minute 


CONCLUSION.  389 

inspection  all  that  exists  and  is  done,  inflicting  all 
that  is  suffered,  and  communicating  all  that  is  en- 
joyed, owning  all  that  is  scattered  over  his  vast 
dominions,  and  as  deeply  interested  in  all  as  though 
his  first  and  best  designs,  his  first  and  highest  de- 
sires were  linked  in  with  the  work  of  his  hands. 
It  is  a  glorious  feature  in  the  system  of  revealed 
truth,  that  it  excludes  God  from  nothing ;  that  it 
recognizes  no  partial  atheism,  obscures  no  impress 
of  the  divine  hand,  conceals  no  vestige  of  his  foot- 
steps, and  discovers  him  first,  him  last,  him  midst, 
him  always. 

And  when  we  come  to  the  wonderful  method 
of  his  grace,  how  is  God  All  in  all!  Do  you 
ask  who  devised  it ;  it  was  God.  That  mysteri- 
ous expedient  whereby  God  can  be  just  and  the 
justifier  of  him  that  belie veth  in  Jesus ;  that 
mighty  effort  of  mercy  and  righteousness,  wisdom 
and  power,  by  which  all  the  apparently  jarring 
attributes  of  the  divine  nature  harmonize  and  il- 
lustrate each  other  in  the  redemption  of  sinners, 
— an  expedient  which  put  to  naught  all  the  wis- 
dom of  this  world,  and  mocked  all  the  powers  of 
the  angelic  and  human  creation — was  all  his  "  own 
purpose  and  grace,"  and  one  all  the  honors  of 
which  are  ascribed  alone  to  him.  All  the  depart- 
ments of  this  great  redemption  are  filled  up  by 
God;  he  is  not  only  the  Author,  but  the  Fin- 
isher of  the  whole.     When  man  had  fallen  and 


390  CONCLUSION. 

justice  was  about  to  inflict  her  heaviest  blow,  it 
was  he  who  made  the  earliest  disclosures  of  this 
salvation  to  our  apostate  progenitors,  and  all  along 
through  the  ancient  economy,  lighted  up  the  dark- 
ness of  the  typical  dispensation,  by  faith  and  hope 
in  the  great  Mediator.  And  when  the  way  was 
prepared  by  a  general  expectation  throughout 
the  world  of  the  advent  of  some  illustrious  deliv- 
erer— by  the  fulfilment  of  the  predictions  in  the 
Jewish  Scriptures  concerning  the  promised  Mes- 
siah— by  the  cessation  of  that  long  line  of  proph- 
ets and  inspired  men  who  had  been  raised  up  to 
preserve  the  knowledge  of  the  one  Only  Living 
and  True  God,  and  the  prevalence  of  a  ceremo- 
nial religion  that  had  set  at  naught  the  obliga- 
tion of  the  moral  law — by  the  degradation  of  mo- 
rals throughout  the  Pagan  world,  and  the  progress 
of  human  philosophy  and  intellectual  refinement, 
which  had  then  made  their  highest  and  best, 
but  unavailing  efforts  for  the  redemption  of  man- 
kind;— in  this  fulness  of  time,  God  sent  forth 
his  Son  as  the  light  and  salvation  of  the  world. 
We  contemplate  his  birth,  his  life,  his  death, 
his  resurrection  and  ascension,  all  completed  in  a 
series  of  astonishing  and  miraculous  events,  and 
all  calculated  to  substantiate  the  divinity  of  his 
person,  the  fact  of  his  messiahship,  and  the  glory 
of  his  all-sufficient  propitiation  for  the  sins  of  men. 
And  then  see  the  God  of  heaven  coming  down  from 


CONCLUSION.  391 

his  holy  habitation  and  dwelling  among  men,  to 
give  efficiency  to  his  grace,  and  by  his  own  Eter- 
nal Spirit,  in  order  to  prepare  a  people  for  his 
praise. 

"Not  unto  us,  O  Lord,  not  unto  us,  but  to 
thy  name  give  glory  for  thy  mercy  and  truth's 
sake."  To  the  accomplishment  of  this  redemption 
everything  in  time  is  subjected  and  rendered  sub- 
servient. We  hold  a  place  in  that  world  which 
God  has  made  the  theatre  of  his  most  wonderful 
operations,  and  the  history  of  which  has  been 
opening  scenes  that  are  constantly  new  and  con- 
stantly exhibiting  the  mighty  hand  and  astonish- 
ing wonders  of  redeeming  mercy.  We  occupy  an 
eminence  from  which  we  behold  mighty  revolu- 
tions in  the  moral  universe,  all  reflecting  the  won- 
ders of  infinite  wisdom,  and  all  concentrating  in 
the  great  redemption.  And  when  from  the  emi- 
nence on  which  the  truth  of  God  has  placed  us, 
we  look  down  the  descent  of  future  ages,  we  see 
that  the  revolutions  that  are  now  taking  place, 
and  that  will  take  place  hereafter, — the  enter- 
prises that  are  now  matured  and  that  will  be 
matured  hereafter, — the  nations  that  now  exist 
and  that  will  be  brought  into  existence  here- 
after,— the  purification  of  the  true  church  and 
the  conversion  or  destruction  of  that  which  is 
impure  and  apostate, — the  restoration  of  the  Jews 
and  the  conversion  of  the  Gentiles, — the  downfall 


392  CONCLUSION. 

of  the  man  of  sin  and  the  confusion  of  the  false 
prophet,  all  proving  the  powerful  auxiliaries,  and 
themselves  constitute  some  of  the  glorious  re- 
sults of  Christ's  redemption.  So  obviously  do 
they  all  lead  to  high  and  awful  discoveries  of  the 
Godhead,  that  when  they  shall  break  upon  the 
world,  men  shall  "  enter  into  the  rock  and  hide 
them  in  the  dust  for  fear  of  the  Lord  and  for  the 
glory  of  his  majesty."  All  the  glories  of  the  di- 
vine nature  are  brought  out  from  their  retirement 
and  obtruded  upon  the  admiration  of  men  in  this 
method  of  his  grace.  There  was  no  other  way  in 
which  God  could  unfold  all  the  perfections  of  his 
infinite  mind ;  no  other  in  which  he  could  so  clear- 
ly and  fully  manifest  any  of  his  perfections ;  no 
other  in  which  he  could  so  fully  prepare  the  minds 
of  all  moral  beings  to  contemplate  them  with  an 
arrested  attention  and  keen  sensibility.  Here  they 
shine  in  full-orbed  splendor.  Here,  they  overpower 
the  intelligence  of  seraphs.  They  dazzle  the  senses 
of  the  highest  orders  of  being,  and  they  "cover 
their  faces,"  while  in  prostrate  admiration,  they  say 
one  to  another,  "  Holy,  holy,  holy  Lord  God  of 
Hosts,  the  whole  earth  is  full  of  his  glory ;"  thus 
exalting  him  as  God  over  all,  and  proclaiming  his 
exaltation  forever  and  ever. 

To  all  that  God  has  purposed  and  performed  in 
the  present  world,  there  is  an  end.  What  that 
mighty  result  is,  so  worthy  of  God,  has  been  dis- 


conclusion.  393 

closed.  It  is  in  the  final  issues  of  the  whole,  that 
we  behold  him  more  than  ever  exalted.  Men 
terminate  their  sublunary  existence  in  the  grave. 
Not  until  the  morning  of  the  resurrection  will 
this  whole  creation  and  all  the  designs  of  God  re- 
specting it,  reach  their  final  issues.  The  voice 
of  the  archangel  and  the  trump  of  God  shall 
sound  to  announce  the  final  advent  of  the  Son 
of  Man,  to  convoke  the  universe  before  the  bar 
of  judgment,  to  proclaim  the  long-predicted  and 
fearful  trial  of  moral  character,  to  summon  angels, 
men,  and  devils  to  God's  all-decisive  sentence  and 
their  unalterable  doom.  And  O,  how  "the  lofty- 
looks  of  man  shall  be  humbled,  and  the  haughti- 
ness of  men  shall  be  bowed  down !  How  will 
the  God  of  heaven  be  exalted  in  that  day  when  the 
universe  shall  stand  before  him  to  acknowledge 
him  as  their  Lord  and  king ;  when  he  shall  assert 
his  supremacy  and  vindicate  the  rectitude  of  every- 
thing he  has  done;  when  every  mouth  shall  be 
stopped  and  the  whole  world  shall  become  guilty 
before  him ;  when  every  knee  shall  bow  and  every 
tongue  confess  that  Christ  is  Lord  to  the  glory  of 
God  the  Father ;  when  the  mediatorial  kingdom 
shall  be  closed,  and  the  Son  deliver  it  up,  and  God 
shall  be  all  in  all ;  and  when  the  wicked  shall  go 
away  into  everlasting  punishment  and  the  right- 
eous into  life  eternal!  There  will  indeed  then 
be  drawn  a  dividing  line  both  in  the  character 
17* 


394  CONCLUSION. 

and  condition  of  the  universe  through  intermina- 
ble ages ;  but  they  shall  all  unite  in  exalting  God 
— the  one  cheerfully  and  of  choice,  the  other  re- 
luctantly and  by  constraint — the  one  in  heaven, 
the  other  in  hell — the  one  by  suffering,  the  other 
by  praise — the  one  by  disclosing  the  glories  of  his 
punitive  righteousness,  the  other  by  disclosing  and 
extolling  the  glories  of  his  redeeming  and  wonder- 
ful mercy.  Where  now  are  they  who  once  de- 
famed and  blasphemed  the  God  of  heaven  ?  Where 
are  rebel  angels  that  so  early  threw  off  their  al- 
legiance and  defied  his  authority?  Where  are 
"those  his  enemies"  in  every  age  of  the  world, 
who  "would  not  that  he  should  reign  over 
them  ?"  And  where  are  the  unfallen  and  re- 
deemed creation?  Where  is  the  blood-bought 
church  redeemed  out  of  every  kindred  and  nation 
and  tongue  under  heaven  ?  Low,  low  prostrated 
before  his  throne,  in  everlasting  but  sweet  humil- 
ity and  self-abasement,  and  saying  day  and  night, 
"  Blessing,  and  honor,  and  dominion,  and  power 
be  unto  him  that  sitteth  thereon,  and  to  the  Lamb 
forever !"  Yes,  there  is  exaltation  for  no  other 
being  in  the  universe  then  but  God.  God  is  ex- 
alted ;  God  "  alone"  is  exalted  in  that  day. 

It  is  a  delightful  thought  that  God  is  above  all 
our  praise.  We  can  do  little  more  than  behold 
his  glory ;  and  as  we  behold  it,  veil  our  faces  and 


CONCLUSION.  395 

lie  in  humble  prostration  at  his  feet.     "  Who  by- 
searching  can  find  out  God  ?" 


'  Stand,  and  adore  ;  how  glorious  he  ! 
That  dwells  in  bright  eternity. 
We  gaze,  and  we  confound  our  sight, 
Plunged  in  th'  abyss  of  dazzling  light. 

Great  God,  forgive  our  feeble  praise, 
Sound  out  thine  own  eternal  praise  ; 
A  song  so  vast,  a  theme  so  high, 
Calls  for  the  voice  that  tuned  the  skv.' 


There  are  those  who  are  happy  in  the  confi- 
dence, that  God  will  be  infinitely  and  forever  ex- 
alted. Sweet  assurance,  that  "  the  Lord  God  om- 
nipotent reigneth;"  that  his  eye  and  his  heart 
who  wrought  the  first  things  are  fixed  on  the  best 
end ;  that  he  never  has  lost  sight  of  it,  either  in 
the  works  of  creation,  providence,  or  redemption ; 
that  all  things  are  tending  to  his  exaltation  as 
their  centre  and  final  issue ;  that  he  has  all  means, 
instruments  and  causes  in  his  hand,  and  that  he 
will  prosecute  and  consummate  his  purpose  with 
all  the  ardor  and  zeal  which  infinite  greatness  and 
goodness  can  employ  in  the  completion  of  the 
greatest  and  best  design.  We  may  indeed  re- 
joice ;  yea,  we  may  shout  for  joy.  Heaven  will 
be  full  of  God.  There  the  infinite  One  shall 
have  his  own  proper  place,  and  the  honors  of  the 
universe  shall  be  paid  to  him.    There  every  crea- 


396  CONCLUSION. 

ture  shall  have  his  proper  place  also,  and  lie  at  the 
footstool  of  his  Sovereign  and  Redeemer ;  and  be- 
cause it  is  a  world  of  everlasting  humility,  it  will 
be  supremely  happy. 


4?. 


r*: 


Si*  ' 


I  ffl«  I  III  I III  I  I  MIS?,!  Seminary  Libra, 


1    1012  01235   6954 


DATE  DUE 


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